CO 


>.z 


CHICAGO'S 

GREATEST  ISSUE 


AN  OFFICIAL 


PLAN 


HIS  Pamphlet  portrays  what 
Chicago  has — what  it  owes— 
what  it  is  worth — what  it  is 
gaining — what  it  needs — 
what  it  should  do.  It  is  designed  for 
easy  reference  and  that  all  citizens  of 
Chicago  may  study  "THE  PLAN  OF 
CHICAGO,"  originally  created  at  the 
request  of  and  promoted  by  The 
Chicago  Commercial  Club — Later 
committed  for  study  and  development 
to  The  Chicago  Plan  Commission, 
created  by  the  Mayor  of  Chicago  in 
November,  1909. 


One  hundred  and  sixty-five  thousand 
copies  of  this  edition  were  printed  in 
June,  1911,  and  distributed  broadcast 
throughout  the  city. 

Additional  copies  may  be  had  on 
written  request  from  the  Chicago  Plan 
Commission's  headquarters,  Room 
314,  Hotel  La  Salle,  Chicago. 


1 

*    S&VjRHP^  ~=*> 


§  I 


o  ;a 

o 


CHICAGO'S 

GREATEST  ISSUE 

AN    OFFICIAL 

PLAN 


Prepared  under  the  direction  of 

The  Chicago  Plan  Commission 

MAYOR  CARTER  H.  HARRISON, 

Honorary  President  ex-officio 
CHARLES  H.  WACKER,  Chairman 
FRANK  I.  BENNETT,  Vice-Chairman 
WALTER  D.  MOODY,  Managing  Director 


The  charts  and  pictures  are  used  by  courtesy  of  the 
Commercial  Club  of  Chicago. 


The  Chicago  Plan  Commission 
1911 


Copyright  1911 

by 

THE  CHICAGO  PLAN  COMMISSION 

of  the 
CITY  OF  CHICAGO. 


Table  of  Contents 


Page 

Owners  of  Chicago   9 

What  the  Chicago  Plan  Is 16 

Plans  for  the  Lake  Front 35 

Forests  for  the  People 46 

OUT  Transportation  Problem 47 

Street  Needs  of  Chicago 53 

Building  a  Civic  Center 64 

The  Cost,   How  to  Divide  It 71 

Capitalizing  the  Chicago  Spirit    76 

How  Other  Great  Cities  are   Building 79 

Original  Promoters  of  the  Plan  of  Chicago   88 

Members  Chicago  Plan  Commission *..,..!.. 89 


1 009057 


List  of  Illustrations 

PAGE 

Chicago  in  1846 2 

View  of  the  proposed  development  in  the  center  of  the  city 8 

South  Water  Street,  Chicago,  1834 9 

Chicago  from  the  West,  1845 15 

Corner  Clark  and  South  Water  Streets,  1864 16 

Chicago,  general  diagram  of  exterior  highways  encircling,  or  radiating  from, 
the  city 23 

Plan  of  the  quadrangle,  bounded  by  Twelfth  Street  on  the  south,  Halsted 
Street  on  the  west,  Chicago  Avenue  on  the  north  and  Michigan  Avenue  on 
the  east 24 

Proposed  boulevard  to  connect  the  north  and  south  sides  of  the  river 26 

Proposed    Twelfth    Street    improvement    at    its    intersections    with    Michigan 

Avenue  and  Ashland  Avenue 28 

Twelfth  Street,  the  new  plan 30 

Michigan  Avenue  from  Park  Row,  1864 34 

Chicago,  park  development  proposed  for  the  lake  shore  from  Chicago  Avenue 
on  the  north  to  Jackson  Park  on  the  south 36 

View  looking  south  over  the  lagoons  of  the  proposed  park  for  the  south  shore    38 

Chicago,  general  map  showing  topography,  waterways,  and  complete  system  of 

streets,  boulevards,  parkways   and  parks 42 

Diagram  of  city  center,  showing  the  proposed  arrangement  of  railroad  pas- 
senger stations,  the  complete  traction  system,  including  rapid  transit, 
subway  and  elevated  roads,  and  the  circuit  subway  line 48 

Diagram  of  the  city  center,  showing  the  general  location  of  existing  freight 
yards  and  railroad  lines,  the  present  tunnel  system  and  proposed  circuit, 
and  connections  for  all  these  services,  running  to  the  central  clearing  yards  49 

Plan  of  the  center  of  the  city,  showing  the  present  and  proposed  street  and 

boulevard  system   54 

Plan  of  the  complete  system  of  street  circulation;  railway  stations;  parks; 
boulevard  circuits  and  radial  arteries;  public  recreation  piers;  yacht 
harbor  and  pleasure  boat  piers;  treatment  of  Grant  Park;  the  main  axis 
and  the  civic  center ' 60 

View,  looking  west,  of  the  proposed  civic  center  plaza  and  buildings. 65 

The  business  center  of  the  city,  within  the  first  circuit  boulevard 67 

View  looking  west  over  the  city,  showing  the  proposed  civic  center,  the  grand 

axis,  Grant  Park  and  the  harbor 69 

The   transformation   of   Paris   under   Haussmann,   plan   showing   the   portion 

executed  from  1854  to  1889 80 


The  Chicago  Plan  Commission 


MAYOR  CARTER  H.  HARRISON,  Honorary  President  ex-officio. 
CIIAELES  H.  W ACKER,  Chairman. 
FRANK  I.  BENNETT,  Vice-Chairman. 
WALTER  D.  MOODY,  Managing  Director. 


CHARLES  H. 
A.  C.  BARTLETT 
FRANK  I.  BENNETT 
EDWARD  B.  BUTLER 
CLYDE  M.  CARR 
JOHN  J.  COUGHLIN 
FREDERIC  A.  DELANO 
JOHN  V.  FARWELL 
ALBERT  J.  FISHER 
ANDREW  J.  GRAHAM 
RICHARD  C.  HALL 
W.  D.  KERFOOT 
THEODORE  K.  LONG 
DR.  J.  B.  MCFATRICH 


WACKER,  Chairman. 

WALTER  D.  MOODY 
JOY  MORTON 
JOHN  POWERS 
PETER  REINBERG 
JULIUS  ROSENWALD 
JAMES  SIMPSON 
JOHN  F.  SMULSKI 
BERNARD  W.  SNOW 
CHARLES  H.  THORNE 
HARVEY  T.  WEEKS 
HARRY  A.  WHEELER 
W.  A.  WIEBOLDT 
WALTER  H.  WILSON 
MICHAEL  ZIMMER 


Headquarters  Chicago  Plan  Commission,  Room  314,  Hotel  LaSalle. 
Telephone  Franklin  700— Room  314 


Twetty- 
SccoriSL 


Twelfth. 


CmressSt. 


WiskiittM 
St. 


ChkdgoAve. 


SOUTH  WATER  STREET,  CHICAGO,  1834. 

It  is  almost  incredible  that  Chicago  has  grown  from  a  settlement  of  ten 
building-s  to  a  great  city  of  2,250,000  inhabitants  in  the  short  span  of  76  years. 
[Original  owned  by  the  Chicago  Historical  Society.] 

Owners  of  Chicago. 

us,  as  owners  of  the  great  corporation  known 
as  the  City  of  Chicago,  devote  a  few  minutes 
of  our  busy  lives  to  taking  stock.     Let  us  see 
just  what  we  have,  what  we  owe,  what  we  are 
gaining,  what  our  city  is  worth  to  us  and  what 
to  do  to  make  this  big  property  of  ours  more  valuable  to 
ourselves  and  for  our  children. 

Cities,  like  private  enterprises,  must  move  forward  with 
the  times.  Shall  we  permit  our  competitors  at  home  and 
abroad  to  outrival  us  in  the  march  of  progress?  What  other 
cities  are  doing  Chicago  must  do  to  hold  her  commercial 
supremacy  and  maintain  her  rightful  position  in  the  front 
ranks  of  the  world's  great  arenas  of  commerce,  art,  science, 
beauty  and  health.  London,  Berlin,  Paris,  Vienna  and. New 
York  have  each  set  the  pace  for  greater  development — 
newer  and  better  things. 

Chicago  must  be  aroused  and  shake  off  her  lethargy  of 
indifference  and  self-satisfaction  born  in  the  hurly-burly  of 
success  in  other  days.  Let  us  pause,  catch  our  breath  and 
take  a  glimpse  of  the  future.  What  must  we  do  to  safe- 
guard, and  add  to  the  greatest  natural  heritage  bequeathed 
to  any  world  city — unrivaled  geographical  location? 


It  is  not  a  question  of  what  we  are  and  what  we  have 
become — but,  of  what  we  should  be,  and  what  we  may 
become. 

The  only  right  way  to  solve  this  problem  is  to  stop  right 
where  we  are  and  determine  to  break  the  bondage  of  vanity 
and  self-praise  while  honestly  inquiring  of  ourselves  as  citi- 
zens, what  manner  of  stewards  are  we? 

In  beginning  this  task,  let  us  imagine  ourselves  grouped 
around  a  great  table  as  long  and  as  wide  as  our  city.  Let 
us  take  up  the  latest  expert  reports  of  the  worth  of  the  prop- 
erty we  own  in  common.  First  we  will  take  the  city  itself, 
because  it  seems  nearest  to  us. 

Are  you  surprised  to  be  told  you  are  an  equal  owner  in 
$200,000,000  of  property  there?  ' 

Then  the  county  property.    It  is  worth  $25,000,000  cash. 

The  sanitary  district  next.  Its  property  would  bring 
$45,000,000  on  the  market. 

The  parks.  Subdivide  them,  cut  them  up  in  lots,  and 
they  would  sell  for  at  least  $150,000,000. 

Add  these  sums  up,  and  we  find  ourselves  today  with 
actual  cash  assets  of  $420,000,000.  We  could  sell  out  today, 
we  find,  and  have  $1,000  cash  for  every  voter  in  Cook 
County.  Facts — and  conservatively  stated. 

When  we  think  of  these  things,  and  remember  all  that 
property  is  ours — a  great  fortune  we  are  to  leave  to  our 
children — we  begin  to  feel  a  new  responsibility  and  a  new 
pride  in  being  citizens  of  Chicago.  We  feel  that  we  ought 
to  handle  that  property  well,  don't  we,  and  increase  its 
value  if  we  can? 

Now  for  the  other  side  of  the  ledger. 

What  do  we  owe? 

The  books  are  brought  in,  spread  upon  the  table,  and  we 
find  our  total  bonded  debt  is  only  $25  for  each  of  us.  And 
we  find,  too,  that  we  have  many  years  to  pay  even  this  small 
debt,  which  includes  the  sanitary  district,  park  and  World's 
Fair  bonds. 

We  are  reminded  by  somebody  about  the  table  that  our 
family  debt,  though  small,  may  be  greater  than  the  debt  of 
other  city  families.  So  we  ask.  about  this,  and  we  are 

10 


astonished  and  relieved  to  learn  that  of  the  sixteen  largest 
cities  in  the  United  States  only  one  has  a  smaller  debt 
for  each  citizen  than  Chicago.  We  stand  on  the  list  be- 
tween Milwaukee  with  $28.56  and  Detroit  with  $18.78  per 
capita. 

The  following  figures,  taking  from  Appleton's  Year 
Book,  1910,  indicate  Chicago's  indebtedness  per  capita  in 
relation  to  the  sixteen  largest  cities  in  the  United  States: 

Population  Indebtedness  Per 

Cities  1910  191O  Capita 

New    York    4,766,833                   91,014,626,356  $212.85 

Boston     670,585  110,769,073  165.17 

Cincinnati    364,463  51,323,518  I  lo.s  I 

New    Orleans    339,075  27,324,360  8O.58 

Newark,  N.  J 347,469  25,674,200  73.91 

Pittsburg     533,905  37,802,787  70.80 

Baltimore    558,485  36,847,457  65.97 

Cleveland     560,663  36,847,457  65.72 

Philadelphia     1,549,008  95,483,820  61.64 

Buffalo     423,715  24,694,901  58.28 

San  Francisco    416,912  16,105,8OO  38.63 

St.   Louis    687,029  24,389,312  35.49 

Washington .  331,069  9,494,800  28.67 

Milwaukee     353,857  10,107,000  28.56 

CHICAGO 2,185,283  56,101,674  25.66 

Detroit      465,766  8,749,000  18.78 

CHICAGO'S   TOTAL,   INDEBTEDNESS   ENUMERATED. 

Park   Bonds    $11,009,000 

Sanitary    Bonds     2O,645,OOO 


Total    $31,654,OOO          per  capita  $14.48 

Municipal   Debt    24,447,674          per  capita      I  I .  IS 


Grand  Total $56,101,674          per  capita  $25.66 

This  table,  showing  the  indebtedness  of  Uncle  Sam's 
large  cities,  indicates  that  Chicago  has  not  been  extravagant. 
Comparing  our  public  improvements  and  our  expenditures 
with  the  other  cities  shown,  it  also  indicates  that  "we  cannot 
get  something  for  nothing."  Chicago  is  a  great  business 
enterprise  worth  $420,000,000  with  an  annual  earning 
power  of  upwards  of  $45,000,000,  besides  an  additional  rev- 
enue may  be  had  of  many  millions  under  its  bonding  power. 
At  the  close  of  the  year  1910  there  was  $20,000,000  in  the 
public  treasury  representing  various  unexpended  appro- 
priations. This  great  corporation  of  ours  in  which  we  are 
all  interested  cannot  be  expected  to  stand  still;  investments 

11 


must  be  made  for  necessary  present  improvements  and  in 
anticipation  of  future  growth. 

Next  comes  the  question  as  to  what  we  are  gaining  in 
numbers. 

Sixty-five  thousand  a  year  for  the  last  forty  years  is  the 
answer.  Uncle  Sam  gives  it  to  us  through  his  census  re- 
ports. He  adds  that  in  counting  his  nephews  and  nieces  in 
1910,  he  found  they  were  gathering  more  and  more  every 
year  in  his  cities.  Forty  of  every  hundred  Americans  now 
live  in  cities,  the  figures  say,  and  twelve  of  every  hundred 
live  in  the  three  cities  of  New  York,  Chicago- and  Phila- 
delphia. 

Those  statements  mean  to  us  that  it  is  a  sure  and  certain 
thing  that  city  growth  is  to  continue,  and  we  begin  to  figure 
on  how  fast  Chicago  is  likely  to  grow. 

Most  of  us  who  were  born  in  America,  and  who  are  not 
native  Chicagoans,  came  from  nearby  places.  It  is  fair  for 
us  to  assume,  then,  that  it  is  from  nearby  places  that  Chicago 
will  draw  her  new-coming  Americans. 

"How  many  are  near  Chicago  now?"  we  ask. 

We  get  the  surprising  reply  that  fifty  million  people, 
the  bulk  of  a  great  nation,  live  within  a  night's  ride  of  our 
city. 

When  we  sense  these  facts  each  of  us  begins  to  have  a 
new  pride  in  Chicago.  We  remind  ourselves  that  mere 
bigness  in  a  city  is  no  longer  the  demand  of  Americans,  but 
that  we  are  demanding  now  that  each  year  our  cities  shall 
be  better  places  to  live  in,  and  we  get  down  to  figuring  out 
what  our  city  is  worth  to  us  in  our  lives  and  our  happiness. 
We  begin  to  look  to  Chicago's  future,  and  to  be  interested 
in  our  real  part  and  our  real  duty  in  conducting  this  $420,- 
000,000  Chicago  of  ours. 

Now  at  this  great  meeting  of  the  multitude  making  up 
Chicago,  hundreds  of  men  arise  to  talk  to  us,  as  fellow 
owners,  about  the  right  things  to  do  to  make  Chicago  what 
we  all  would  have  it. 

Let  us  listen  to  one  of  these  men,  talking  to  the  people 
of  his  own  neighborhood  at  their  section  of  the  great  imag- 

12 


inary  table  where  we  have  gathered  to  discuss  Chicago's 
business. 

"You  live  in  Chicago,  don't  you?"  queries  the  speaker. 

"You  have  your  business  here?" 

"You  work  here,  don't  you?" 

"You  are  loyal  to  Chicago — for  her,  heart  and  soul — 
aren't  you?" 

"You  want  to  see  Chicago  the  best  city  it  can  be.  Isn't 
that  true?" 

"You  want  to  see  it  clean — and  convenient — and  health- 
ful— and  attractive — and  prosperous — and  safe.  You  want 
to  see  it  just  as  right  for  your  comfort  and  success  as  it  can 
be  made  today,  don't  you?" 

"You  want  the  future  Chicago  to  be  better  than  the  past, 
if  it  can  be,  don't  you?  better  for  your  children  to  be  born, 
live,  work,  marry  and  succeed  in?" 

"If  you  were  making  a  new  Chicago  today — if  you  had 
power  to  turn  the  wheels  of  time  back  forty  of  the  seventy- 
five  years  of  Chicago's  short  life,  you  would  make  some 
changes,  wouldn't  you?" 

"Now  some  of  us — plain  men,  business  men,  practical 
men — -have  been  interested  in  the  changes  necessary,"  the 
speaker  goes  on  to  say.  "We  believe  we  have  a  way  to 
make  the  changes  needed — easy,  sensible,  simple  to  under- 
take. We  have  had  the  world's  ablest  architects  at  work 
for  years.  We  have  worked  night  and  day  ourselves.  We 
have  spent  over  a  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  we  believe 
we  have  created  a  way  to  make  Chicago  a  better  city  for 
everybody." 

"This  has  been  referred  to  as  a  dream,"  suggests  some- 
one about  the  table. 

"Yes,"  continues  the  speaker,  "it  is  a  dream — just  such 
a  dream  as  the  new  LaSalle  and  Blackstone  Hotels  present 
in  contrast  to  the  old  Tremont  House — a  dream  such  as 
the  new  Chicago  &  Northwestern  twenty-million-dollar 
passenger  terminal  presents  in  contrast  to  the  old  North- 
western station  at  Wells  Street." 

"We  want  to  suggest  our  plan  to  you  right  now,"  the 
speaker  concludes,  "and  we  want  you  to  study  our  sug- 

13 


gestion.  If  you  like  it — if  it  will  do  what  we  say  it  will  do 
— we  ask  only  that  you  approve  of  it  and  that  work  be 
begun  upon  our  plan  right  away,  so  that  Chicago  may  not 
have  to  spend  millions  in  the  future  where  thousands  will 
do  the  work  today.  If  it  can  be  improved  upon,  we  want 
that  improvement  made,  for  it  is  not  a  hard  and  fast  prop- 
osition. Any  changes  anybody  can  suggest  o-ught  to  be 
given  thought,  but  let  us  get  together  again,  in  the  same 
spirit  that  immortalized  Chicago  in  the  birth  of  her  great 
World's  Fair,  and  make  Chicago  the  best,  as  well  as  the 
biggest,  of  all  our  great  American  cities." 

Present  conditions  in  Chicago — lack  of  order  in  city 
building,  coupled  with  the  lack  of  many  great  necessities, 
are  an  outgrowth  of  a  natural  condition.  For  upwards  of 
fifty  years  or  more  the,  people  of  Chicago  for  the  most  part 
were  struggling  in  their  efforts  to  build  up  successful  busi- 
ness enterprises.  Our  people  were  without  large  means. 
The  first  duty  of  every  individual  is  to  safeguard  and  pro- 
mote his  own  business,  but  when  individual  success  is  as- 
sured attention  should  then  be  directed  to  the  public  wel- 
fare. 

Neglect  of  the  citizen  to  give  some  of  time,  some  of 
thought  and  some  of  money  to  public  good,  if  widely  dis- 
tributed, would  mean  disaster  to  the  community. 

Having  become  prosperous,  we  should  now  earnestly  di- 
rect our  attention  to  solving  our  many  perplexing  problems, 
which  have  crowded  in  upon  us  seemingly  all  at  once — the 
building  of  a  subway — construction  of  outer  harbors — 
realization  of  a  proper  housing  plan — and  the  development 
of  a  city  plan  as  a  whole.  Provision  is  made  in  the  Plan  of 
Chicago  which  affords  a  solution  of  practically  all  of  these 
things. 

As  citizens  of  Chicago  we  would  be  enthused  by  that 
kind  of  a  speech,  would  we  not?  We  would  be  impressed, 
too,  and  would  determine  to  give  careful  attention  to  the 
ideas  advanced  by  those  speakers.  That  determination 
brings  us  face  to  face  with  a  patriotic,  non-political  and 
non-partisan,  all-Chicago  issue,  and  with  the  work  of  the 


14 


Chicago  Plan  Commission — a  body  of  three  hundred  and 
twenty-eight   sound,    hard-headed    Chicago    business   men, 
drawn  from  all  classes  and  representing  all  interests,  and_ 
working  today  to  benefit  all  the  people  of  Chicago  in  all 
the  years  and  centuries  to  come. 


CHICAGO  IN  1845.     FROM  THE  WEST.     Population   12, < 
[Original  owned  by  the  Chicago  Historical  Society.] 


An  individual  never  attains  any  very  great  size  mentally 
nor  morally  except  as  he  attaches  himself  to  a  great 
idea,  and  that  idea,  being  worthy,  grows  with  him 
until  the  stature  of  the  man  becomes  equal  to  the  stature 
of  the  idea  to  which  he  has  attached  himself." 


15 


CORNER  CLARK  AND  SOUTH  WATER  STREETS,  1864.     Population  169,353. 
[Original   owned   by  the   Chicago  Historical   Society.] 

What  the  Chicago  Plan  is. 


The  characteristic  of  greatness  is 

wisdom  to  anticipate  the  future 

while  conserving  the  present. 

IHAT  is  the* Chicago  Plan? 

It  is  a  plan  to  direct  the  future  growth  of 
the  city  in  an  orderly,  systematic  way. 
What  is  its  object? 
To  make  Chicago  a  real,  centralized  city  in- 
stead of  a  group  of  overcrowded,  overgrown  villages. 
What  does  it  mean? 

That  by  properly  solving  Chicago's  problems  of  trans- 
portation, street  congestion,  recreation  and  public  health 
the  city  may  grow  indefinitely  in  wealth  and  commerce, 
and  hold  her  position  among  the  great  cities  of  the  world. 
Above  everything  else  it  is  concerned  with  the  three  most 
vital  problems  confronting  every  metropolitan  community 
—congestion,  traffic  and  public  health.  The  easy  and  con- 
venient movement  of  traffic  facilitates  business,  while  the 
chief  concern  of  any  city  is  the  public  health  of  its  citizens 
— its  greatest  asset.  The  Chicago  Plan  demands — in  the 

16 


interest  of   the  latter — more   and   larger   parks   and   play 
grounds  and  better  and  wider  streets. 

The  conservation  of  natural  resources  as  a  national  asset 
of  prime  importance  is  occupying  the  serious  attention  of 
the  government,  as  we  all  know,  but  what  is  more  important 
than  the  conservation  of  public  health,  especially  in  large 
cities? 

Every  human  life  is  a  national  asset  and  should  be  care- 
fully preserved. 

It  is  a  matter  of  governmental  record  in  countries  where 
conscription  to  army  service  is  compulsory  that  the  physique 
of  the  city  dwellers  is  degenerating,  so  that  only  a  relatively 
small  percentage  of  those  living  in  congested  cities  are  able 
to  measure  up  to  the  strict  requirements  for  military  service. 

Germany  is  alarmed  on  account  of  this  condition  and 
has  begun  a  wide  movement  to  intelligently  and  systematic- 
ally direct  proper  city  plans  for  bettering  present  conditions 
and  for  future  growth. 

England  found  that  during  the  Boer  war  only  a  small 
percentage  of  recruits  from  large  cities  offering  themselves 
for  service  in  the  army  were  physically  fit. 

The  United  States  during  the  Spanish-American  war 
found  the  same  condition  of  affairs  existed  to  a  very  alarm- 
ing extent.  We  can  all  remember  the  publicity  given  to  the 
large  number  of  rejections  of  recruits  offering  themselves 
for  service  from  our  large  cities. 

In  the  United  States  at  the  time  of  the  Civil  War  only 
3%  of  the  population  lived  in  cities.  In  50  years  this  has 
increased  to  more  than  40%.  In  the  past  the  problem  con- 
fronting our  people  in  the  rapidly  growing  cities  was  to 
provide  gas,  electric  light,  pure  water,  adequate  schools  and 
scientifically  equipped  and  conducted  public  institutions  for 
the  sick  and  improvident.  The  problem  of  our  great  cities 
today  and  for  the  next  generation,  is  to  provide  light,  air, 
ample  means  for  healthful  recreation,  relief  from  conges- 
tion, facilitation  of  traffic,  housing  of  the  poor,  scientific 
organization  of  charities,  better  public  improvements  and 
attractive  surroundings  to  the  multitudes  swarming  to  the 
cities.  Right  city  planning  is  basic.  A  proper  plan  of- 

17 


finally  adopted  and  realized  for  the  direction  of  the  growth 
of  a  city  in  an  orderly  and  systematic  way  practically  affords 
a  complete  solution  of  the  problems  confronting  our  great 
municipalities.  Such  is  the  Plan  of  Chicago. 

What  are  we  as  citizens  to  do  to  promote  it? 

First  we  are  to  study  it  that  we  may  understand  it. 
When  that  is  accomplished  we  are  to  make  it  clearly  and 
distinctively  our  ideal.  We  are  to  bid  good-bye  to  pro- 
vincialism that  calls  itself  "community  patriotism,"  and 
thinks  itself  loyal  because  it  sneers  at  the  efforts  of  every 
other  city  to  solve  their  problems,  while  ignoring  its  own. 
We  are  to  break  the  bonds  of  civic  paresis  and  come  to  un- 
derstand that  wise  and  great  as  we  are  in  Chicago,  we  are 
not  so  wise  but  that  we  can  learn  something  in  city  plan- 
ning from  France,  from  Germany,  from  England  and  from 
our  own  American  cities — nor  so  great  but  that  we  should 
enhance  our  greatness  by  the  kind  of  wisdom  which  respects 
civic  advance  wherever  it  may  be  found.  We  are  to  look 
forward  to  the  time  when  all  barriers  to  the  Plan  of  Chi- 
cago will  be  broken  down  in  the  broad  spirit  that  an  in- 
jury to  one  is  an  injury  to  all,  and  that  the  well  being  of 
one  promotes  the  well  being  of  all.  We  are  to  make  the 
PLAN  our  ideal  and  to  put  it  before  us  and  dare  to  recog- 
nize it  and  to  BELIEVE  in  it  and  to  build  for  it.  We  are  to 
forecast  the  time  when  it  will  seem  as  extraordinary  not 
to  have  an  official  plan  toward  which  to  direct  the  growth 
of  our  city  as  it  now  seems  that  Chicago  was  ever  allowed 
to  be  worked  out  like  an  ill-patched  crazy  quilt.  We  are 
to  establish  by  the  influence  and  work  of  a  united  citizen- 
ship the  power  of  law  necessary  for  Chicago's  advance  com- 
mensurate with  her  greatness.  It  requires  only  sufficient 
local  patriotism  to  substitute  order  for  disorder,  and  rea- 
son, common  sense  and  action  for  negligence,  indifference 
and  inertia. 

Let  us  bear  in  mind  the  vital  point  that  forty  per  cent 
of  all  the  people  of  the  United  States  are  now  living  in 
cities;  twelve  per  cent,  as  stated,  live  in  New  York,  Chicago 
and  Philadelphia.  Medical  authorities  assert  that  the 
physical  condition  of  men  in  cities  "as  compared  with  that 

18 


of  men  in  the  country"  is  deteriorating  and  gradually  be- 
coming more  deficient.  There  is  a  great  public  responsi- 
bility resting  upon  the  metropolitan  municipality  in  pro- 
viding adequate  means  for  recreation  and  the  health  of  its 
citizens  that  physical  efficiency  may  be  maintained,  thereby 
adding  tremendously  to  the  composite  earning  power  of 
the  community.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  aside  from  the 
humanitarian  and  practical  necessity  for  right  city  build- 
ing there  is  a  decided  commercial  asset  in  right  planning 
that  should  not  be  lightly  set  aside. 

We  designate  the  life  of  Chicago  as  being  75  years,  but  it 
might  be  more  properly  figured  as  40  years,  for  within  two 
generations  we  have  added  in  round  numbers  2,000,000 
members  to  our  great  family.  In  all  likelihood  we  shall 
have  a  population  of  4,000,000  twenty  years  from  today.  A 
single  generation  is  a  short  span  in  the  life  of  a  great  and 
growing  city.  The  majority  of  our  big  family  will  live  to 
see  the  year  1930.  What,  then,  do  we  propose  to  do  to  sur- 
round ourselves,  our  children  and  their  children  with 
attractive  conditions — comfort,  convenience,  means  of  recre- 
ation, health  and  happiness? 

Again  answering  the  question,  "What  does  it  mean?" 
Municipal  economy  is  of  prime  importance.  Lack  of 
order  and  extravagance  go  hand  in  hand.  It  is  as  neces- 
sary to  build  a  city  in  accordance  with  a  well  laid  out  plan 
as  it  is  in  building  a  house  or  in  having  a  model  for  the 
making  of  a  garment. 

In  the  twenty-five  years  ending  with  1906  more  than 
$222,000,000  of  the  taxpayers'  money  were  spent  for  extraor- 
dinary betterments  and  improvements.  This  colossal  item 
affords  startling  evidence  of  what  might  have  been  accom- 
plished toward  the  realization  of  a  plan  such  as  we  are  urg- 
ing had  the  city  adopted  an  official  plan  a  generation  ago. 

Many  millions  may  yet  be  saved  by  carrying  out  this 
work  before  property  values  appreciate  still  higher  and 
by  securing  cohesion  of  all  interests,  such  as  the  park  com- 
missions, forest  preserve  commission  and  other  powers, 
in  carrying  out  their  future  work  according  to  a  set  plan. 

19 


Who  is  handling  the  Chicago  Plan? 

That  is  being  done  by  the  Chicago  Plan  Commission, 
a  great  representative  body  of  men  appointed  by  Mayor 
Fred  A.  Busse  in  November,  1909,  who  placed  in  charge 
as  permanent  chairman  Mr.  Charles  H.  Wacker. 

At  the  first  meeting  of  the  Commission  held  in  the 
City  Council  Chamber,  November  4,  1909,  Mr.  Frank  I. 
Bennett  was  elected  Vice-Chairman,  and  Mr.  Henry 
Barrett  Chamberlin,  Secretary  pro  tern. 

The  Commission  is  being  actively  supported  in  its  work 
by  the  parent  of  the  Chicago  Plan  movement,  the  Com- 
mercial Club  of  Chicago,  Edward  B.  Butler,  chairman 
Plan  Committee. 

In  January,  1911,  the  Commission  appointed  as  its  man- 
aging director,  Mr.  Walter  D.  Moody,  formerly  general 
manager  of  the  Chicago  Association  of  Commerce. 

How  came  the  Commission  to  be  established? 

It  was  done  that  the  government  of  the  city  could  under- 
take and  control  the  work  of  carrying  out  the  plan  for  a 
centralized  and  improved  city.  This  is  with  the  approval 
of  the  governments  of  the  state  and  county,  and  park  sys- 
tems—all our  public  bodies  are  supporting  the  Chicago 
Plan.  Mayor  Carter  H.  Harrison,  like  his  predecessor,  ex- 
Mayor  Fred  A.  Busse,  is  in  full  accord  with  and  has  ap- 
proved the  work  of  the  Chicago  Plan  Commission.  The 
Plan  of  Chicago  is  a  non-partisan  all-Chicago  issue. 

How  and  when  was  the  Chicago  Plan  originated? 

The  germ  of  the  idea  was  the  World's  Columbian  Ex- 
position held  in  Chicago  in  1893.  Credit  for  first  voicing 
this  idea  is  given  to  Mr.  Franklin  MacVeagh,  now  secre- 
tary of  the  national  treasury,  who  in  1901  suggested  it  to 
the  Commercial  Club  of  Chicago.  At  almost  the  same  time 
the  Merchants'  Club  of  Chicago  became  interested 
through  Mr.  Charles  D.  Norton,  its  president,  and  Mr. 
Frederic  A.  Delano.  Work  on  the  plan  was  formally  un- 
dertaken by  the  Merchants'  Club  in  1903,  and  was  well  on 
the  way  to  development  when  the  latter  organization  was 
merged  with  the  Commercial  Club  under  the  name  of  the 
latter  in  1907. 

20 


In  that  year  the  first  Plan  Committee  of  the  Commercial 
Club  was  organized  with  Mr.  Norton  as  Chairman  and 
Mr.  Charles  H.  Wacker  as  Vice  Chairman.  These  two 
leaders  of  the  plan  movement  retained  their  respective 
offices  with  each  succeeding  Plan  Committee  until  the  year 
1909,  when  Mr.  Norton  resigned  to  take  up  his  residence  in 
Washington.  Mr.  Charles  H.  Wacker  succeeded  him  as 
Chairman,  which  position  he  in  turn  vacated  when  he  re- 
ceived his  appointment  from  the  Mayor  of  Chicago  as  per- 
manent Chairman  of  the  Chicago  Plan  Commission  at  the 
time  of  its  organization. 

Who  worked  out  the  Chicago  Plan? 

For  this  great  work  of  the  actual  drafting  of  a  practical 
plan  for  Chicago's  growth,  the  city  was  given,  without  any 
charge,  the  services  of  Mr.  Daniel  H.  Burnham,  architect. 
The  genius  of  this  world-renowned  man  was  contributed 
to  Chicago's  good,  and  that  at  a  time  when  other  great 
cities,  busy  at  planning  betterments,  were  bidding  tens  of 
thousands  of  dollars  for  the  services  Chicago  was  getting 
for  nothing. 

Mr.  Burnham  was  assisted  in  his  great  work  by  his  as- 
sociate, Mr.  Edward  H.  Bennett. 

What  will  the  Chicago  Plan  mean  for  Chicago  in  a 
business  way? 

Wellrit  will  attract  to  Chicago  millions  of  dollars  now 
being  spent  annually  in  other  cities. 

You  do  not  mean  the  millions  being  spent  each  year  in 
Europe  by  Americans,  do  you? 

No,  possibly  not  in  Europe,  but  by  making  Chicago 
healthful  and  as  convenient,  beautiful  and  attractive  as  Eu- 
ropean cities,  vast  sums  of  money  would  be  spent  by  our 
neighbors  in  the  great  Southern,  Southwestern,  Western  and 
Northwestern  sections  of  our  own  United  States — who 
would  visit  Chicago  with  their  families  and  friends  and  re- 
main indefinitely  as  other  Americans  now  visit  and  stay  in- 
definitely in  Paris,  Berlin  and  other  attractive  European 
cities.  That's  a  commercial  asset  of  incalculable  value, 
isn't  it? 

If  we  learn  as  we  go,  profiting  by  experience,  both  in 

21 


the  matter  of  our  mistakes  as  well  as  achievements,  we  must 
realize  that  the  future  will  hold  us  responsible  for  the  ful- 
fillment of  the  demand  for  better  surroundings,  better  utili- 
ties, better  hygienic  conditions,  better  public  improvements 
and  greater  comforts;  for  these  always  follow  in  the  foot- 
steps of  increased  commercial  activity  and  wealth. 

What  is  it  proposed  to  do  to  carry  out  the  Chicago 
Plan? 

Before  the  plan  was  drawn  careful  study  showed  that 
Chicago  has  tended  to  grow  in  population  in  a  southwest- 
erly direction  from  the  original  Fort  Dearborn  at  the 
mouth  of  Chicago  river.  This  fact  has  been  taken  into 
consideration  in  looking  to  the  probable  future  center  of 
the  city  in  the  preparation  of  the  general  plan. 

A  SYSTEM  OF  OUTER  ROADWAYS  AND 
HIGHWAYS  ENCIRCLING  THE  CITY— To  connect 
the  various  parts  of  Chicago  with  each  other,  with  the  center 
of  the  city  and  with  outlying  sections,  is  considered  a  great 
need.  With  the  exception  of  five  per  cent,  a  perfect  system 
of  outer  highways — called  "turnpikes"  in  the  old  days — 
now  exists.  Partly  disconnected  roads  form  ninety-five  per 
cent  of  the  proposed  system  today. 

A  study  of  the  accompanying  chart  will  show  that  circle 
No.  1  connects  Winnetka,  the  northern  lake  terminal,  with 
La  Grange,  Hinsdale,  Blue  Island  and  Orland,  ending  with 
Roby  on  the  lake  to  the  South. 

Circle  No.  2  starts  with  Waukegan  on  the  lake  to  the 
North,  connecting  that  city  with  Libertyville,  Lake  Zurich, 
Elgin,  Geneva,  Aurora,  Joliet,  Chicago  Heights,  ending 
with  Gary  on  the  lake  to  the  South. 

Circle  No.  3  is  also  a  lake  terminal  at  Kenosha  on  the 
North  and  embraces  Woodstock,  Genoa,  Sycamore,  Morris, 
Momence,  Kankakee  and  La  Porte,  finding  its  southern  out- 
let again  on  the  lake  at  Michigan  City. 

The  Chicago  Plan  Commission  proposes  to  enlist  the  aid 
of  the  various  townships  en  route  on  these  three  circles  in 
the  construction  of  the  connecting  links,  amounting  as  stated 
to  but  five  per  cent  needed  to  complete  these  highways. 
Consider  these  circular  roadways  and  their  connection  with 

22 


CHICAGO.     General  diagram  of  exterior  highways  encircling  or  radiating 
from  the  city.     Ninety-five  per  cent  of  these  arteries  now  exist. 
(Copyrighted  by  the  Commercial  Club  of  Chicago.) 

the  proposed  diagonal  street  system  of  our  plan — the  con- 
venient and  time  saving  feature  of  this  system  is  apparent  at 
a  glance.  Country  turnpikes  and  their  relationship  to  the 
metropolis  should  be  inseparably  interlinked  and  that  is 
especially  true  in  considering  Chicago's  welfare  and  her 
outlying  suburban  cities,  when  we  realize  that  the  popula- 
tion of  the  twenty-four  cities  and  village's  on  these  circles 
amounts  to  250,000,  and  will  continue  their  growth  in 
proportion  to  their  relationship  to  the  city  of  Chicago  and 
its  future  development. 

DIAGONAL  STREETS— One  great  element  in  the 
saving  of  time  and  labor  in  the  transportation  of  people 
and  merchandise  in  cities  comes  from  the  existence  of  di- 
agonal streets,  so  traffic  may,  as  we  say,  "cut  across"  instead 

23 


of  moving  always  at  right  angles.  Milwaukee,  Blue  Island 
and  Archer  avenues  are  examples  of  such  streets.  The  plan, 
then,  looks  to  developing  such  streets  to  their  greatest  use- 
fulness. Also  it  means,  in  time,  the  cutting  of  more  such 
streets,  particularly  on  the  great  west  side  of  Chicago. 

CIRCUITS — Another  idea  of  the  plan  is  to  establish 
several  circuits  of  existing  thoroughfares  and  to  improve 
them  so  traffic  can  move  freely  and  directly  about  the  city's 
center. 

QUADRANGLE— The  first  constructive  work  of  the 


uuUUUUU 

inuUUnan 

3QB 

]cmH 

nrn1 — i 
BP 


DaDDQDODClCDDDDnE 

nnnnnnnnnciQnxnx 


Hnannnnan 


QDDDnnnnna 


anaanannnnnnnnn 


^anDnnnn 


CHICAGO.  Plan  of  the  quadrangle  bounded  by  Twelfth  Street  on  the 
South,  Halsted  Street  on  the  West,  Chicago  Avenue  on  the  North  and  Michigan 
Avenue  on  the  East.  These  four  streets  are  destined  to  bear  the  heaviest  traffic 
of  any  thoroughfares  in  the  city.  The  completion  of  the  quadrangle  means  the 
construction  of  a  substantial  part  of  the  main  vertebra  of  the  street  circulation 
system.  It  is  the  purpose  of  the  Chicago  Plan  Commission  to  complete  this 
square  as  the  first  great  necessary  step  in  carrying  out  the  plan  as  a  whole. 

24 


Chicago  Plan  Commission — the  foundation  stone  for  all  that 
is  to  follow — is  to  carry  out  the  circuit  idea  by  completing 
the  great  quadrangle  formed  by  Twelfth  street  on  the  South, 
Halsted  street  on  the  West,  Chicago  avenue  on  the  North 
and  Michigan  avenue  on  the  East.  These  four  streets  are 
destined  to  bear  the  heaviest  traffic  of  any  streets  in  Chicago. 
The  initial  step  will  be  to  widen  Twelfth  street  from  Mich- 
igan to  Ashland  avenue,  the  second  to  widen  Michigan 
avenue  from  Randolph  street  North  to  connect  with  Chi- 
cago avenue.  Chicago  avenue  is  sufficiently  wide,  so  we 
come  next  to  the  completing  link  of  the  quadrangle — the 
widening  of  Halsted  street. 

MICHIGAN  AVENUE,  a  section  of  the  quadrangle- 
It  was  found,  is  really  the  base  line  of  the  city's  traffic.  A 
great  development  of  this  avenue  is  proposed,  to  make  it 
a  great,  wide  street  skirting  the  entire  front  of  the  city. 
This  means  widening  the  avenue  from  Randolph  street  to 
connect  with  Lincoln  Park  drive  at  Ohio  street,  and  the 
construction  of  a  wide,  roomy  concrete  viaduct  and  bridge 
across  the  river.  The  bridge  is  to  be  a  double  deck,  bascule 
structure,  the  upper  deck  for  carriages  and  automobiles  and 
the  lower  one  for  heavy  traffic,  with  wide  sidewalks  above 
and  below  for  pedestrians.  Arrangements  would  be  made  to 
have  east  and  west  traffic  of  all  kinds  in  the  busy  section  near 
the  river  pass  through  this  viaduct  at  about  street  grade. 

There  is  to  be  a  gradual  grade  the  entire  width  of  the 
street  from  building  line  to  building  line,  starting  from  Ran- 
dolph street,  reaching  a  maximum  height  of  sixteen  feet  at 
the  river  crossing,  then  a  gradual  descent  to  Ohio  street.  This 
grade  will  be  no  more  perceptible  than  is  Jackson  boulevard 
at  the  river.  The  grades  suggested  are  less  than  those  exist- 
ing on  Fifth  avenue,  New  York.  Imagine  standing  at  the 
intersection  of  Randolph  street  and  Michigan  avenue  and 
being  able  to  follow  with  the  eye  the  straightened  course 
of  that  magnificent  widened  thoroughfare  direct  to  Lin- 
coln Park,  where  it  would  end  in  the  lake  at  the  intersection 
of  Bellevue  place. 

The  completion  of  the  North  and  South  boulevard  sys- 
tem with  this  connecting  link  as  shown  in  the  cut  on  page 

25 


C  Imago 
River 


CHICAGO.  Proposed  boulevard  to  connect  the  north  and  south  sides  of 
the  river;  view  looking-  north  from  Washington  Street.  The  boulevard  is  raised 
to  allow  free  flow  of  east-and-west  teaming  traffic  under,  and  both  Michigan 
Avenue  and  Beaubien  Court  are  raised  to  the  boulevard  level.  The  raised  por- 
tion throughout  its  entire  length,  from  Randolph  Street  to  Indiana  Street, 
extends  from  building  line  to  building  line.  It  is  approached  from  cross  streets 
by  inclined  roadways  or  ramps;  these  may  be  changed  to  the  east  side  or 
omitted. 

From  a  painting  for  the  Commercial  Club  by  Jules  Guerin. 

(Copyrighted  by  the  Commercial  Club  of  Chicago.) 


26 


26  would  give  Chicago  the  most  magnificent  thorough- 
fare in  the  world.  The  estimated  cost  of  this  work  is  less 
than  six  million  dollars;  the  value  of  its  realization  is  ines- 
timable. If  there  is  one  phase  of  the  Plan  of  Chicago  that 
every  citizen  should  demand,  it  is  the  building  of  this  con- 
necting link.  Its  value  as  a  Chicago  asset  would  attract 
internationally-wide  attention.  Property  values  in  the  im- 
mediate section  of  this  proposed  improvement  would  be 
tremendously  enhanced.  Indirectly  the  benefit  would  be 
to  the  whole  city,  even  to  those  of  our  citizens  living  in  far 
remote  sections. 

Attractiveness  is  a  community  asset  shared  in  by  all. 
It  is  not  believed  that  there  can  be  any  serious  objection 
on  the  part  of  any  citizen,  either  directly  or  indirectly 
affected,  to  an  improvement  so  palpably  in  the  interests  of 
all  as  the  completion  of  the  boulevard  link  as  proposed. 

"Michigan  avenue  is  more  than  the  main  connecting 
thoroughfare  between  the  north  and  the  south  sides,"  as  has 
been  well  said,  "it  is  the  great  plaisance  for  office  buildings, 
hotels,  clubs,  theatres,  music  halls  and  shops  of  the  first 
order,  lining  the  western  side  of  the  avenue.  So  desirable 
has  property  become,  that  the  extension  of  it  to  the  north 
must  enhance  the  value  of  the  abutting  real  estate,  because 
of  the  increased  opportunities  for  continuing  the  building 
of  structures  of  the  highest  class."  The  property  owners 
there  should  be  the  first  to  recognize  their  opportunity  and 
co-operate  to  the  fullest  extent  in  this  greatest  of  all  needed 
street  improvement. 

"Michigan  avenue  is  destined  to  carry  the  heaviest  move- 
ment of  any  street  in  the  world.  Any  improvement  for  this 
thoroughfare  which  does  not  recognize  its  importance  will 
be  a  waste  of  money  and  energy  and  an  error  of  the  first 
magnitude."  Michigan  avenue  north  of  Randolph  street 
is  now  66  feet  wide.  It  should  be  widened  to  at  least  130 
feet,  by  taking  a  64  foot  strip  off  from  the  lots  on  the  east 
side  of  the  street.  The  lots  in  the  blocks  affected  are  130, 
124  and  121  feet  deep.  After  the  city  has  taken  the  neces- 
sary property  for  the  improvement,  there  would  remain  of 
these  lots  a  depth  of  66,  60  and  57  feet  respectively — plenty 

27 


41        So02       ft 


I        *|S*k 

-  "aw 


<J    S 


1       E2^~ 
5  5  §5**  2 

<l     <t>  to    <w  it 


£       ^.  O)  C8 

.£       ^^       ; 
^    •  t-F-i  M 


of  depth  for  merchantable,  high-class  property,  when  it 
is  remembered  that  certain  large  office  buildings  in  the  loop 
are  situated  on  very  shallow  lots.  When  the  improve- 
ment of  Michigan  avenue  is  completed,  the  remainder  of 
the  lots  affected  will  be  worth  more  than  the  present  prop- 
erty of  full  depth. 

TWELFTH  STREET,  the  first  section  of  the  quad- 
rangle, is  being  developed  under  the  Chicago  Plan.  It  is  to 
be  widened  and  arranged  to  bear  easily  a  heavier  traffic  than 
that  which  now  makes  it  a  badly  congested  street.  The  wid- 
ening of  Twelfth  street  is  the  initial  step  in  the  constructive 
work  of  developing  the  plan  as  a  whole  and  bears  a  relation- 
ship to  the  general  scheme  of  street  construction  and  street 
widening. 

The  necessity  for  the  improvement  of  that  street  lies  in 
the  fact  that  it  is  the  only  through  thoroughfare  between 
Harrison  and  Eighteenth  streets  connecting  the  west  side 
with  the  down  town  district.  The  actual  heart  of  the  city's 
population  today  is  a  little  north  of  the  corner  of  Twelfth 
and  Halsted  streets.  Traffic  and  the  city's  growth  are  grad- 
ually moving  in  a  southwesterly  direction.  Adequate  pro- 
vision must  be  made  for  a  suitable  outlet  from  that  district 
to  the  present  business  center  of  the  city. 

Twelfth  street  from  Ashland  avenue  to  Michigan  ave- 
nue is  at  present  66  feet  wide  between  building  lines  with 
the  exception  of  the  block  between  State  street  and  Mich- 
igan avenue,  where  the  street  is  but  SO  feet  wide;  39  feet 
wide  between  sidewalk  curbs  and  only  nine  feet  and  nine 
inches  wide  between  the  street  car  step  and  the  curb.  It 
is  proposed  to  make  the  street  108  feet  wide  from  Ashland 
avenue  to  Canal  street,  taking  a  42-foot  strip  off  from  the 
lots  on  the  south  side  of  the  street.  It  is  to  be  widened  to 
1 18  feet  from  Canal  street  to  Michigan  avenue. 

It  is  not  intended  to  boulevard  the  street,  but  to  make  it 
a  clean,  wide,  business  thoroughfare  with  a  double,  rapid- 
transit  surface  street  car  line  down  the  center,  and  on  it 
might  be  established  sub-stations  of  all  the  great  railroads 
entering  the  city  from  the  east,  south  and  southwest.  It  is 
hoped  that  the  railroads  may  be  induced  to  locate  terminals 
south  of  Twelfth  street  between  State  street  and  the  river. 

29 


^= 

V 

1 

»> 

L 

• 

^'^ 


=n 


>i«®JS 


A/O/M 


>,  C  01 
•Offi       » 


w~2s 

K          * 


Q^-isg 


30 


On  November  16,  1909,  the  Chicago  Plan  Commission's 
Executive  Committee  appointed  a  special  Twelfth  street 
committee  whose  mission  it  was  to  investigate  the  entire  mat- 
ter and  report  back  to  the  Executive  Committee.  On  Jan- 
uary 19,  1910,  the  Executive  Committee  received  the 
Twelfth  Street  Committee's  report,  adopting  same,  which 
was  referred  to  the  Commission  as  a  whole  and  unanimously 
adopted  on  January  19,  1910. 

On  March  2,  1911,  there  was  a  public  hearing  on  the 
matter  before  the  Board  of  Local  Improvements,  after 
which  the  property  owners  on  that  street  were  given  thirty 
days  in  which  to  file  a  protest  representing  a  majority  of  the 
lineal  front  footage.  The  time  limit  expired  without  such 
majority  protest  having  been  filed  with  the  Board,  and  the 
matter  then  went  to  the  City  Council,  where  on  April  6, 
1911,  the  Twelfth  street  widening  ordinance  passed  by  a 
vote  of  46  to  10. 

The  improvement  might  properly  be  designated  as 
both  a  "local  improvement"  and  a  "general  benefit." 
The  Chicago  Plan  Commission  has  made  a  strong  recom- 
mendation for  a  large  "general  benefit"  in  order  that  a 
large  percentage  of  the  cost  of  the  improvement  shall  be 
borne  by  the  whole  city,  in  which  case  the  matter  of  a 
bond  issue  to  defray  the  city's  part  of  the  cost  will  have 
to  be  referred  to  the  people  in  a  referendum.  Mayor 
Carter  H.  Harrison  has  declared  himself  in  favor  of  a 
large  "general  benefit"  and  has  pledged  himself  to  see 
that  the  people  in  that  section  will  receive  fair  and  just 
treatment. 

Public  sentiment  generally  and  the  united  support  of 
the  press  is  back  of  this  movement.  Every  citizen  of  Chi- 
cago should  aid  with  his  influence  and  vote  at  the  proper 
time  in  the  realization  of  this  improvement,  thus  insuring 
the  success  of  the  first  practical  step  in  carrying  out  the 
Plan. 

HALSTED  STREET,  a  section  of  the  quadrangle,  it 
is  predicted,  will,  in  time  to  come,  carry  an  enormous  traffic. 
It  is  so  situated  that  its  usefulness,  already  great,  may  be 

31 


very  much  increased.  It  is  selected  as,  next  to  Michigan 
avenue,  the  most  important  north  and  south  traffic  thorough- 
fare. Under  the  Chicago  Plan  the  street  would  be  widened, 
paved  properly  and  developed  as  one  of  the  great  central 
business  streets  of  the  future  city. 

CHICAGO  AVENUE,  a  section  of  the  quadrangle, 
already  one  hundred  feet  wide,  will  serve  for  a  long  time  the 
traffic  it  will  be  made  to  carry.  Crowding  of  vehicles  is  not 
so  great  upon  the  north  side  of  the  city  and  is  not  increasing 
so  fast  as  in  other  sections.  It  will  connect  with  the  pro- 
posed Michigan  boulevard  extension  at  Pine  street,  complet- 
ing the  first  circuit  of  improvement  in  our  streets. 

PARK  SYSTEM— Going  further  with  their  work,  the 
architects  found  our  park  system  encircling  the  city  on  three 
sides,  and  along  part  of  the  shore.  To  this  system  it  is 
planned  to  add  park  lands  and  park  ways,  so  as  to  extend 
and  complete  it,  and  make  it  encircle  the  entire  city — this 
to  meet  the  needs  of  increasing  population.  Numerous 
small  parks  are  also  proposed,  and  the  plan  looks  to  taking 
over  large  forest  areas,  now  outside  the  city  limits,  that  open 
air  pleasures  may  be  had  by  the  city's  millions  in  summers 
to  come. 

LAKE  FRONT— One  of  the  really  great  features  of 
the  plan,  and  one  most  easily  to  be  carried  out,  is  the  im- 
provement of  the  lake  front.  We  all  know  how,  in  a  few 
years,  the  city's  waste,  heaped  upon  one  part  of  our  city's 
"front  yard,"  produced  for  us  our  tremendously  valuable 
Grant  Park,  which  is  land  worth  millions,  created  for  us 
out  of  our  city's  refuse.  • 

Why,  we  ask,  as  the  owners  of  Chicago,  can  not  that  good 
work  go  on? 

Let  us  consider,  just  for  a  moment,  what  we  are  really 
doing  in  Chicago  now,  and  how  we  are  neglecting  our  op- 
portunities. We  spent  $60,000,000  digging  a  canal — one 
of  the  greatest  civic  tasks  ever  done — that  we  might  have 
pure  water  to  drink.  And  we  are  actually  dumping  into 
our  lake,  which  we  spent  that  great  sum  to  purify,  hundreds 

32 


and  thousands  of  tons  of  refuse  matter — dirt  and  filth  which 
not  only  imperils  our  health  but  proves  us  a  most  wasteful 
people  and  tends  also  to  create  obstructions  gravely  danger- 
ous to  navigation — a  matter  for  first  consideration  as  being 
of  prime  importance. 

What  should  we  do  about  it? 

Just  this :  Send  crews  out  into  the  lake.  Have  them  drive 
lines  of  piles  at  proper  distances  from  shore,  and  instead  of 
throwing  the  city's  refuse  into  the  open  lake,  pile  it  up — 
ashes,  old  bricks,  building  wreckage,  street  sweepings — and 
make  thus  a  long  line  of  islands  extending  up  and  down  the 
length  of  the  city's  water  front. 

Twenty-seven  to  thirty-three  acres  can  be  created  in  this 
way  every  year.  We  can  dispose  of  the  city's  refuse  and  at 
the  same  time — as  we  did  in  Grant  Park — build  up  a  water- 
side park  system  greater  and  more  extensive  than  that  of  any 
city  in  the  world.  The  entire  work  can  be  done  at  a  cost  so 
trifling  as  to  surprise  not  only  Chicago,  but  all  the  world. 

TRANSPORTATION— In  connection  with  the  street 
and  park  features  of  the  plan  was  considered  the  problem 
of  transportation  facilities.  The  location  of  passenger  and 
freight  stations  had  great  bearing  on  the  plan.  Included  is 
a  plan  for  arranging  the  railway  stations  and  connecting 
them  by  a  subway  street  car  system. 

FREIGHT  YARDS— Removal  of  the  freight  yards 
from  the  center  of  the  city  so  far  as  possible,  and  stopping 
the  expensive  rehandling  of  freight  in  the  crowded  districts 
is  to  result  from  the  plan.  Great  central  freight  clearing 
yards  are  to  be  established  southwest  of  the  city.  All  incom- 
ing freight  trains  will  go  there.  An  industrial  freight 
harbor  is  proposed  at  the  mouth  of  the  Calumet  river,  South 
Chicago;  a  commercial  harbor  is  proposed  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Chicago  river,  and  all  the  freight  centers  are  to  be  con- 
nected by  subway  lines. 

CIVIC  CENTER— In  seeing  the  growth  of  the  city 
ever  southwesterly  the  men  having  the  plan  in  hand,  figur- 
ing on  the  experiences  of  all  great  cities  of  modern  and  an- 

33 


cient  times,  were  able  to  tell  where  the  real  center  of  the 
future  Chicago  is  to  be.  Near  that  point,  then,  it  became 
their  duty  to  plan  the  heart  of  the  coming  great  city.  That 
point  was  decided  to  be  near  the  crossing  of  South  Halsted 
and  West  Congress  streets.  They  planned  there  a  great 
work,  designated  as  the  principal  civic  center  of  Chicago. 

It  is  hard  for  any  mind  to  grasp  this  great  plan  thus 
hastily  outlined.  It  is  hard  to  realize  the  ease  with  which 
Chicago's  millions  can  make  the  Chicago  Plan  a  reality. 

Let  us  study  it.  If  the  plan  is  good  let  us  band  together 
and  go  to  work  on  it,  willing  to  wait  fifty  years,  perhaps,  to 
see  the  whole  plan  worked  out,  but  determined  to  see  it  suc- 
ceed. Let  us  look  at  the  plan  in  detail,  taking  one  thing  at  a 
time,  considering  all  facts,  weighing  all  things  justly,  and 
decide  what  to  do  about  it. 


MICHIGAN  AVENUE— FROM  PARK  ROW.     1864. 
[Original  owned  by  the   Chicago  Historical  Society.] 

As  marvelous  as  is  the  growth  of  Chicago  during  its  life  of  76  years,  it  is 
still  more  astounding  that  the  city  added  2,000,000  inhabitants  to  its  population 
in  less  than  50  years.  During  the  Civil  War,  the  period  this  picture  represents, 
the  city's  population  was  169,353. 


Plans  for  the  Lake  Front. 

jpjEFORE  giving  attention  to  the  many  things  in 
the  Chicago  Plan  which  look  to  upbuild  the 
commerce  of  Chicago,  increase  her  power  as  a 
manufacturing  city,  make  easier  the  handling  of 
her  traffic,  and  work  for  her  general  advance, 
let  us  talk  of  the  lake  front.  All  of  us  know  something  of 
that.  We  know  the  lake  itself  at  Jackson,  Lincoln  and 
Grant  Parks.  We  would  like  to  know  it  better,  to  be  able 
to  enjoy  its  pleasures  without  facing  its  dangers.  Let  us 
see  what  the  Chicago  Plan  offers  us  as  to  the  lake  front. 

It  is  well  to  talk  of  the  Lake  Front  park  system  first,  too, 
because  it  is  to  cost  us  so  little,  as  has  been  shown.  This 
seems  to  bring  the  realization  of  it  nearer,  for  if  it  is  good  to 
have  we  can  begin  right  away  to  get  it. 

As  the  central  idea  of  the  lake  front  parks,  imagine  a 
plan  for  parks  in  the  lake,  reaching  from  Jackson  Park  on 
the  south  to  Wilmette  on  the  north,  a  stretch  of  twenty  miles 
of  water-front  parks.  These  are  not  to  be  boulevarded  for 
vehicles,  but  real  parks  and  playgrounds  for  all  the  people, 
where  family  picnics,  baseball,  tennis  and  all  manner  of  out- 
door sports  may  be  freely  indulged  in. 

Beginning  at  Jackson  Park,  the  Chicago  Plan  provides 
first  for  a  yacht  harbor  in  a  basin  about  three  miles  along 
shore  and  perhaps  two  miles  across.  This  will  result  from 
the  building  of  a  half-circle  of  little  islands  in  the  lake  in 
the  zone  from  Forty-third  to  Fifty-fifth  street,  where  the 
water  is  quite  shallow. 

Then  northward  will  sweep  one  large  island,  or  perhaps 
two  islands,  reaching  to  the  main  harbor  at  Twelfth  street. 
This  land  is  to  be  from  600  to  1,000  feet  across.  Between 
it  and  the  mainland  will  run  a  lagoon,  400  feet  wide,  to  be 
canoeing,  motor-boating  and  rowing.  It  will  provide  a  wa- 
terway, always  calm,  always  safe,  five  miles  long  and  nearly 
a  thousand  feet  wide. 


35 


Ckiuti  AVMM 


Washington 

MMM 


Twelfth  Street 


Twenty-seceid 
Street 


Ihirty-ninth 
Street 


Midway  Plaisagce 


As  a  further  development  of  this  water-front  park 
scheme,  it  is  planned  to  build  a  new  strip  of  land  immedi- 
ately east  of  the  Illinois  Central  railroad  tracks  and  extend- 
ing out  into  the  water  for  a  distance  of  approximately  200 
or  300  feet,  running  the  entire  length  from  Jackson  Park  to 
connect  with  Grant  Park  at  Twelfth  street,  paralleling  the 
lagoon  and  outer  parkway  strip. 

This  would  give  Chicago  the  most  magnificent  water- 
front of  any  city  in  the  world,  and  would  give  the  people  an 
opportunity  to  enjoy  the  alluring  pleasures  that  only  water 
sports  and  waterway  parks  can  provide.  In  every  other 
country  excepting  our  own  waterfronts  of  every  description 
are  reserved  and  beautified  as  intended  by  nature  for  the 
free  and  unlimited  pleasure  of  all  the  people.  The  proposed 
improvement  of  Chicago's  waterfront  is  the  most  practical 
and  feasible  part  of  the  Plan  of  Chicago  and  can  be  accom- 
plished, at  practically  no  cost,  at  the  rate  of  twenty-seven  to 
thirty-three  acres  each  year  by  utilizing  Chicago's  waste 
material,  as  shown  on  pages  32  and  72.  It  is  not  contem- 
plated that  this  work  shall  be  accomplished  in  a  day,  or  a 
year;  but  to  gradually  create  this  park  as  rapidly  as  can 
be,  in  the  manner  above  described. 

Accessibility  to  the  lake  front  is  a  matter  of  prime  im- 
portance, and  has  been  given  thorough  consideration  and 
comprehensive  treatment  in  the  plan  for  street  widening  and 
street  construction,  which  is  readily  shown  by  a  study  of  the 
charts  of  streets. 

Another  splendid  feature  of  the  lake  front  parks  is  an 
idea  to  have  extending  from  Twelfth  street  north  to  Wash- 
ington street  a  great  central  harbor  faced  by  Grant  Park. 
This  great  basin  lies  in  the  hollow  of  curving  parkland 
shores  extending  into  the  lake  for  three-quarters  of  a  mile. 
Two  long  seawalls,  curving  outward,  with  openings  at  the 
center  and  at  either  end,  permit  easy  passage  of  vessels  and 
assure  calm  water  always  within  the  harbor. 

At  the  extremity  of  the  northern  coast  of  this  harbor,  pic- 
ture to  yourself  great  piers  and  stations,  arranged  in  a  circle, 
for  use  of  the  passenger  carrying  vessels  of  the  lakes.  At 

37 


CHICAGO.     View   looking   south    over  the    lagoons  'of   the    proposed    lake 
front  park  for  the  south  shore. 

Painted  for  the  Commercial  Club  of  Chicago  by  Jules  Guerin. 
(Copyrighted   by  the  Commercial   Club   of   Chicago.) 

the  extremity  of  the  southern  coast  of  the  harbor  imagine 
refectories,  boat  houses  and  other  buildings  built  for  park 
purposes,  overlooking  the  lake,  crowning  an  island  in  the 
lake. 

Go  further  with  the  view  of  the  central  lake  front.  Pic- 
ture to  yourself  two  long,  narrow  parks  built  as  island  piers, 
and  running  out  into  the  lake  for  over  a  mile,  one  at  the 
foot  of  Twenty-second  street,  the  other  at  the  foot  of  Chi- 
cago avenue.  These  great  piers,  to  be  tipped  with  high 
lighthouses  marking  the  entrance  to  Chicago's  magnificent 
harbor,  will  serve  as  walls  to  break  the  force  of  all  storms 
which  assail  the  city  from  the  lake.  Each  of  these  parks 
will  be,  say,  five  hundred  feet  wide,  perhaps  reaching  a 
mile  out,  and  each  to  have  trees  and  flowers  and  drives  for 
carriages. 

Northward  from  Chicago  avenue  the  plan  offers  a  varia- 
tion from  the  south  shore  plan,  the  islands  being  built  a 

38 


little  farther  off-shore,  and  the  inner  lagoon  narrowing,  but 
continuing  unbroken  until  it  connects  with  the  yacht  harbor 
and  park  already  established  at  Wilmette,  where  begins  the 
inland  waterway  provided  by  the  north  channel  of  the  drain- 
age district,  which  canal  now  cuts  through  Evanston  and 
connects  with  the  Chicago  river  at  the  city's  northern  ex- 
tremity. 

The  preliminary  plans  for  these  great  island  parks, 
which  will  be  hundreds  of  acres  in  extent,  call  for  bridges 
and  connecting  ways  by  which  the  people  of  the  various 
divisions  of  the  city  may  at  all  times  easily  reach  the  lake 
front  parks,  playgrounds  and  the  recreation  and  bathing 
beaches  adjacent  to  them. 

Because  of  the  small  cost  of  this  vast  improvement,  and 
because  it  can  be  carried  out  by  use  of  the  city's  waste, 
which  is  increasing  in  amount  every  year,  the  lake  front 
park  island  work  is  likely  to  be  the  first  major  step  by  Chi- 
cago in  putting  the  Chicago  Plan  into  effect.  The  building 
of  Chicago's  subway,  as  now  seems  certain,  will  greatly  aid 
in  pushing  the  development  of  the  lake -front  improvement 
on  account  of  the  vast  quantities  of  excavated  material  that 
would  have  to  be  deposited  somewhere;  besides,  it  would 
cost  far  less  to  haul  this  material  to  the  lake  front  than  to 
some  far  more  distant  point. 

As  a  side  feature  of  the  lake  front  plans  it  is  proposed  to 
drive  a  boulevard  skirted  lagoon  through  the  Midway  Plais- 
ance  on  the  South  Side,  connecting  the  lagoons  of  Jackson 
and  Washington  parks,  and  opening  a  way  for  pleasure 
craft  to  pierce  far  into  the  heart  of  the  residence  section  of 
the  city.  The  earth  removed  in  the  construction  of  this  long 
lagoon,  of  course,  will  go  far  toward  helping  the  island 
construction  work  within  the  lake. 

Think  of  what  this  lake  front  development  means  to  Chi- 
cago and  her  citizens.  An  extremely  beautiful  parkway, 
twenty  miles  in  length,  with  the  lake  on  one  side  and  the 
city  on  the  other.  Frequent  fields,  numerous  playgrounds, 
spacious  avenues,  fine  groves — all  in  closest  touch  with  the 
life  of  the  city.  What  an  effect  it  will  have  upon  our  health 

39 


and  happiness  who  live  here.  How  many  visitors  its  beau- 
ties will  attract  from  other  cities.  How  many  millions  of 
dollars  it  will  mean  to  the  city's  trade  thus  to  establish  in 
our  great  city  a  pleasure  resort  of  such  splendid  extent  and 
possibilities. 

Think  what  this  great  park  system  means  to  the  people 
of  our  city.  Unlimited  opportunities  for  recreation,  un- 
limited relief  for  the  millions  in  the  heat  of  summer  on  this 
great  public  playground  at  our  city's  front  door,  unlimited 
enjoyment  of  winter  sports  upon  the  frozen  lagoons — an  all- 
the-year,  every-day-in-the-week  joy  to  all  Chicago  and  all 
her  guests. 

Truly  spoke  the  eminent  French  visitor  to  Chicago  who 
said,  "Chicago  has  not  yet  discovered  its  lake  front." 


40 


Forests  for  the  People. 

EXT  in  importance  to  the  lake  front  development 
we  may  perhaps  give  place  to  the  matter  of  se- 
curing for  the  people  large  areas  of  forest  lands 
adjacent  to  Chicago.  These  should  be  in  their 
natural  condition,  filled  with  such  wild  trees, 
shrubs,  vines  and  flowers  as  grow  in  this  climate,  and  the 
people  should  have  free  access  to  them  for  all  time.  These 
large  parks,  we  may  all  agree,  should  be  selected  with  a  view 
to  getting  the  best  lands  for  such  purposes,  the  most  attrac- 
tive natural  sites,  and  have  them  readily  accessible  and  near 
to  all  the  people. 

Let  us  look  for  a  few  minutes  into  the  possibilities  which 
nature  has  given  us  to  secure  such  places  for  the  people.  We 
will  begin  at  Glencoe,  near  the  northern  border  of  Cook 
County,  and  in  our  minds  go  through  the  territory  which 
we  can  well  take  and  improve  for  our  benefit  and  the  bene- 
fit of  future  generations,  coming  back  to  Lake  Michigan  on 
the  southern  border  of  the  Chicago  zone. 

Glencoe,  on  Lake  Michigan,  lies  in  the  center  of  a 
broken  country  which  affords  a  natural  park  entrance  to  the 
country  from  the  lake  shore.  Here  are  virgin  forests  where 
lordly  oak,  elm,  ash  and  cottonwood  trees  cast  their  summer 
shade. 

Piercing  the  country  we  have  the  Skokie  marshland, 
almost  as  beautiful  as  the  lake  itself. 

A  mile  inland  we  have  the  valley  of  the  north  branch  of 
Chicago  river,  where  the  ever-changing  views  give  never 
ending  delights. 

Southward  the  forests  extend  along  the  river  down  to- 
ward and  approaching  the  city  limits.  There  are  about 
eight  thousand  acres  which  should  be  taken  for  this  great 
natural  northern  park.  The  land  could  be  secured  now  at 
comparatively  small  cost. 

41 


M 

§1 
5 


01  d— 


lr 


A  park  area  entirely  surrounding  the  city  can  be  had  by 
extending  westward  from  Glencoe  to  the  valley  of  the  Des 
Plaines  river,  and  passing  down  that  valley  to  Riverside. 
Thence,  taking  in  the  valleys  of  Salt  and  Flag  creeks — a 
country  of  great  natural  beauty.  Thence  in  a  southerly  di- 
rection to  the  drainage  canal,  including  the  fine  rolling 
country  and  forests  in  the  Willow  Springs  district.  Now 
bearing  eastward,  extend  the  line  along  the  Calumet  Feeder, 
Stony  Creek  and  Little  Calumet  river,  to  and  including 
Lake  Calumet,,  and  so  to  the  lake  shore  below  South  Chi- 
cago. 

This  recital  brings  a  view,  perhaps,  of  great  expense. 
But  the  cost  would  not,  in  fact,  be  as  large  as  most  people 
would  believe  at  first  thought. 

First,  most  of  the  territory  suggested  still  lies  in  its 
natural  state.  No  expensive  improvements  have  been  made; 
which  would  naturally  lessen  the  cost. 

Secondly,  much  of  the  territory  is  now  either  public 
property,  such  as  streams,  or  is  practically  valueless  for  till- 
age or  improvement  because  of  its  wild  and  broken  state. 

It  is  proposed,  as  part  of  the  plan,  to  create  a  driveway 
around  Lake  Calumet,  and  to  reclaim  the  lowlands  south 
of  that  body  of  water,  and  also  to  plant  a  belt  of  woods  sur- 
rounding this  lake  park  set  in  the  center  of  one  of  the  world's 
greatest  manufacturing  districts.  Driveways,  too,  are  to 
run  through  all  this  outlying  park  territory,  connecting 
with  the  main  routes  to  the  center  of  the  city. 

We  are  already  engaged  in  serious  attempts  to  provide 
good  living  conditions  for  the  many  thousand  people  work- 
ing in  the  large  industries  of  the  Calumet  territory.  Exten- 
sive parks  are  demanded  in  that  region  because  city  condi- 
tions, no  matter  how  ideal,  fail  to  satisfy  the  craving  for 
real  out-of-door  life.  Human  nature  demands  such  simple 
and  wholesome  pleasures  as  come  from  roaming  the  woods, 
from  canoeing  and  boating,  and  from  sports  and  games  that 
require  large  areas. 

We  live  in  an  era  of  holidays.  We  use  every  available 
day  for  recreation  and  rest  for  the  tired  body  and  mind. 
We  need,  therefore,  the  large  parks,  and  the  necessity  for 

43 


them  is  greatest  in  the  regions  south  and  southwest  of  the 
city.  There  the  city's  workers  will  find  their  largest  means 
of  enjoyment  for  their  hours  of  leisure  and  days  of  vacation. 

The  outer  park  plans  have  been  so  drawn,  generally,  as 
to  provide  proper  areas  for  the  people  of  all  the  various 
parts  of  the  city,  and  to  have  these  areas  all  easily  accessible 
for  the  many  thousands  who  will  use  them. 

The  forest  preserves,  as  shown  on  the  chart  accompany- 
ing this  chapter,  indicate  that  these  reserves  are  placed  in 
relation  to  the  radiating  arteries.  Naturally  these  arteries 
will  be  larger  and  better  paved  as  the  forests  are  developed, 
since  they  will  always  be  the  short-cut  to  the  forests;  this 
applies  particularly  to  Milwaukee  avenue  for  the  Des 
Plaines  River  reserve,  Twelfth  street  for  the  Elmhurst  re- 
serve, and  Archer  avenue  for  Mt.  Forest  reserve. 

The  Des  Plaines  River  reserve,  and  particularly  the 
Elmhurst  and  Mt.  Forest  reserves  are  destined  to  be  the  big 
forests  because  the  topography  of  the  land  and  in  all  prob- 
ability the  price  of  these  (if  the  purchases  are  not  delayed 
too  long)  are  more  favorable  than  the  other  districts. 

Fifty-eight  American  cities  are  now  engaged  in  city  plan- 
ning and  fourteen  of  these  are  arranging  for  radical  changes, 
providing  for  extensive  park  areas,  civic  centers  and  public 
squares. 

The  subject  of  forest  preserves  in  connection  with  the 
world's  large  cities  is  receiving  most  serious  attention  by  the 
authorities  of  Berlin,  Vienna,  London  and  Paris.  In  fact, 
these  cities  have  already  secured  properties  adequate  for 
this  purpose. 

Berlin,  with  about  the  same  population  as  Chicago,  has 
a  total  area  of  proposed  forest  reserves  of  over  75,000  acres 
within  a  radius  of  ten  miles  of  the  center  of  the  city.  Ber- 
lin's Grunewald  Forest  contains  10,000  acres  and  is  situated 
no  further  from  the  center  of  the  city  than  our  own  Wash- 
ington Park. 

Vienna,  with  nearly  the  same  population  as  Chicago, 
has  a  total  park  area  of  15,000  acres,  and  is  making  exten- 
sive preparations  for  large  forest  preserves. 

44 


Chicago's  present  actual  park  area  is  3,200  acres.  The 
outer  park  system  recommended  by  the  Special  Park  Com- 
mission  in  their  report  of  1904,  is  37,000  acres;  proposed 
by  the  Plan  of  Chicago,  between  40,000  and  50,000  acres. 

CHICAGO'S  PARKS  AND  THOSE  OF  OTHER 
CITIES — From  President  Henry  G.  Foreman's  Park 
Commission  report  of  1904 — from  which  we  may  see  at  a 
glance  how  Chicago  stands  in  regard  to  parks  when 
placed  side  by  side  with  other  American  cities.  The  show- 
ing is  not  flattering  to  Chicago.  While  our  city  is  second 
in  population,  it  is  seventh  in  park  area. 

City  Acre  Area  of  Parka 

BOSTON   12,878 

"LONDON    8.4O4 

NEW    YORK 8.O74 

I' A  His   4,299 

PHILADELPHIA 4,175 

LOS  ANGELES 3,737 

NEWARK,  NEW  JERSEY,    and   environs 3,548 

SAN    FRANCISCO  3,411 

CHICAGO 3,174 

WASHINGTON  2,911 

*[The  acreage  of  foreign  cities  does  not  appear  in  President  Foreman's  report,  but  have 
been  inserted  here  for  the  purpose  of  comparison.] 

In  the  year  1909  the  General  Assembly  of  Illinois  passed 
an  act  providing  for  the  creation  of  Forest  Reserve  Districts 
within  counties  in  Illinois.  This  act  provided  that  upon 
petitions  being  filed,  the  question  should  be  submitted  to  the 
voters  of  the  proposed  district,  and  if  the  vote  was  in  favor 
of  the  adoption  and  creation  of  such  district,  thereupon  the 
district  should  be  organized. 

The  affairs  of  the  district  are  managed  by  a  Board  of 
Commissioners  consisting  of  a  President  and  four  commis- 
sioners, appointed  by  the  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  County 
Commissioners,  with  the  consent  of  the  members  of  such 
Board.  Such  a  petition  was  presented  to  the  County  Court 
in  September,  1910.  The  question  was  submitted  to  the 
voters  at  the  election  in  November,  1910,  resulting  in  a  vote 
of  about  138,000  for  such  district,  and  less  than  40,000 
against  such  district. 

45 


Thereupon,  on  the  30th  day  of  November,  1910,  the 
President  of  the  Board  appointed  a  President  and  Board  of 
Commissioners  for  such  Forest  Preserve  District,  which  dis- 
trict embodied  all  of  Cook  County.  The  act  provides  that 
the  Commissioners  shall  have  power  to  designate  by  ordi- 
nance, to  lay  out,  establish,  open,  widen,  pave  and  otherwise 
improve  and  maintain  pleasure  driveways;  to  prescribe  rules 
and  regulations  concerning  such  driveways,  and  also  the 
Forest  Preserves  acquired  under  the  provisions  of  the  act. 
The  Board  also  has  power  under  the  act  to  acquire  by  gift, 
devise,  purchase  or  condemnation  any  and  all  grounds  and 
lands  necessary  for  such  driveways  and  Forest  Preserves 
and  lands  contiguous  thereto. 

The  Board  further,  according  to  the  act,  has  power  to 
acquire  and  hold  lands  for  the  erection  and  maintenance 
thereon  of  public  buildings  for  the  use  of  the  public  for 
assembly  and  recreation  purposes,  but  not  of  a  religious 
character.  In  order  to  provide  revenues  with  which  to  carry 
out  the  purposes  of  the  act  the  Board  may  issue  bonds  and 
levy  taxes  in  the  same  manner  as  taxes  are  levied  for  city 
and  village  purposes.  Such  Board  shall  report  annually  to 
the  County  Commissioners  the  revenues  received,  expendi- 
tures made,  land  acquired,  the  progress  of  construction  work 
and  the  condition  of  the  property  and  such  other  matters  as 
may  have  been  acted  upon  by  the  Board  during  the  previous 
year. 

A  quo  warranto  proceeding  was  instituted  in  December, 
1910,  which  proceeding  involves  the  constitutionality  of  the 
act  under  which  the  Forest  Preserve  District  was  organized. 
At  the  hearing  before  Judge  Dever,  a  decision  was  rendered 
sustaining  the  act;  an  appeal  was  taken  by  the  State's  Attor- 
ney, which  appeal  was  considered  by  the  Supreme  Court  of 
this  State  at  the  April  Term,  A.  D.  1911,  and  a  decision 
thereon  is  expected  at  the  present  June  Term,  which  term 
began  on  June  6,  1911. 

This  decision  when  handed  down  by  the  court  will  either 
declare  all  or  a  portion  of  the  act  unconstitutional,  and  if  the 
act  is  sustained,  no  doubt  the  court  will  define  the  powers 
of  the  district. 

46 


Our  Transportation  Problem. 

E  ALL  know  Chicago  has  been  made,  largely,  by 
the  railroads.  We  know,  too,  that  our  future 
prosperity  depends  upon  them.  We  see,  then, 
that  we  ought  to  give  much  thought  to  transpor- 
tation, that  in  all  possible  ways  the  railroads  may 

be  helped  to  handle  our  people  and  our  freight  as  quickly 

and  as  cheaply  as  possible. 

When  we  investigate  today,  we  find  each  railroad  hand- 
ling its  business  in  its  own  way,  without  a  central  system. 
We  ask,  then,  if  the  time  has  not  come  to  develop  a  com- 
mon system,  at  least  for  the  handling  of  freight,  and  we 
look  about  to  see  how  such  a  system  could  be  established. 

We  think  of  freight  matters  first  because  we  know  that 
upon  the  proper  handling  of  freight  depends  the  business  of 
our  factories,  the  growth  of  our  commerce,  and  the  steady 
employment  of  our  people.  We  know  that  upon  that  sub- 
ject depends  the  growth  of  our  city  and  the  stability  and 
increase  of  the  value  of  all  our  property. 

Most  of  us  are  astonished  to  learn  that  the  chief  reason 
for  the  congestion  of  our  freight  terminals,  for  delays,  for 
railway  smoke  and  for  other  evils  from  which  we  suffer  lies 
in  the  manner  the  roads  are  operated.  The  great  trouble  is 
that  the  railroads  haul  thousands  of  cars  every  month  into 
the  heart  of  Chicago,  switch  them  and  haul  them  out  again 
without  unloading.  No  need  for  this  appears  to  us,  as  we 
study  the  subject.  We  ask  ourselves  how  to  avoid  this,  and 
the  answer  comes  to  us  at  once. 

"Turn  all  those  through  cars  into  a  common  clearing 
yard  on  the  outskirts  of  the  city,"  we  say.  "Stop  them  at 
Gary  on  the  south,  at  Summit  on  the  southwest,  at  Franklin 
Park  on  the  northwest  and  at  Waukegan  on  the  north,  and 
send  them  by  a  great  belt  railway  to  a  common  center  out 
southwest,  there  to  be  sorted,  made  up  in  trains  and  deliv- 
ered to  the  various  roads  to  continue  their  journeys." 

47 


We  can  see  at  a  glance  how  much  this  would  prevent 
congestion  down  in  the  center  of  the  city,  leaving  the  cen- 
tral district  tracks  more  clear  for  passenger  traffic  and  for 
quick  delivery  of  such  freight  as  is  intended  for  merchants 
and  factories  in  Chicago.  We  see,  too,  how  it  means  a 
cleaner  city  for  us,  and  at  the  same  time  a  big  saving  for  the 
railroads. 


rl 


•Mini 


Itnltt 
venae 


id  SI 


lalSl. 


In  St. 

Mion 


:higan 
enue 


Milwaikee 

Avenue 


CHICAGO.  Diagram  of  city  center,  showing  the  proposed  arrangement  of 
railroad  passenger  stations,  the  complete  traction  system,  including  rapid 
transit,  subway  and  elevated  roads,  and  the  circuit  subway  line. 

The  last  is  designed — (A)  to  connect  all  railroad  stations  with  one  an- 
other; (B)  to  connect  passengers  from  all  points  of  the  city  within  and  with- 
out the  center  with  the  railroad  stations  by  transfer  from  the  subway  line 
proposed  in  the  Arnold  report;  (C)  to  supplement  by  transfer  the  interchange 
of  passengers  from  traction  line  going  through  the  center  from  the  north, 
south  or  west  to  any  point  in~the  city. 

(Copyrighted  by  the  Commercial  Club  of  Chicago.) 


labile  M. 


48 


IIS 


IshldndAve. 


WstdSL 


CwjISL 


Soutt 
reigit  Yard 


Milwaukee 
Avt. 


Cater  An 


West 
FrdittYai 


USaUeSt 


SWe  St. 


Mkkifii 
Ave. 


CHICAGO.  Diagram  of  the  city  center,  showing  the  general  location  of 
existing  freight  yards  and  railroad  lines  the  present  tunnel  system  and  pro- 
posed circuit,  and  connections  for  all  these  services,  running  to  the  central 
clearing  yards. 

(Copyrighted  by  the  Commercial   Club  of  Chicago.) 

Having  decided  this  as  a  good  move,  we  would  then  go 
a  step  further.  We  know  that  many  thousands  of  cars  of 
goods  are  sent  to  Chicago  each  year,  which  goods  are  un- 
loaded, stored,  and  shipped  out  through  the  country  by 
wholesale  merchants  from  time  to  time  as  they  are  sold.  It 
seems  clear,  then,  that  a  great  general  storage  depot  could 
be  created  outside  the  city,  at  the  place  most  convenient, 
where  these  goods  could  be  handled  more  cheaply  and 
quickly  than  in  the  center  of  a  great  city. 

49 


In  making  these  moves,  we  would  have  to  figure  on  the 
fact  that  much  freight  reaches  Chicago  by  water,  and  that 
this  water  trade  should  grow  as  the  city  grows.  It  would 
be  well,  then,  to  greatly  develop  the  harbor  at  South  Chi- 
cago, as  nearest  the  general  freight  clearing  yards,  as  all 
heavy  freight  now  goes  there,  and  also  a  commercial  harbor 
at  the  mouth  of  Chicago  river.  These  harbors  we  would 
connect  by  underground  or  surface  raihvay,  operated  by 
electricity,  with  the  freight  clearing  yards,  and  also  with  the 
general  freight  distribution  system  for  the  city  itself. 

The  Chicago  Plan  Commission  endorses  the  report  for 
the  provision  of  both  the  industrial  and  the  commercial  har- 
bor made  by  the  Harbor  Commission  of  the  City  of  Chicago 
in  1909. 

COMMERCIAL  HARBOR— proposed  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Chicago  river — "At  large  cities  provision  must  be 
made  for  the  delivery  of  passengers  arriving  by  vessel,  and 
for  the  freight  that  is  used  in  the  city  locally,  including  coal, 
fruits,  vegetables,  and  other  merchandise.  Such  a  harbor  re- 
quires docks,  warehouses  and  unloading  facilities  near,  or 
convenient  to,  the  heart  of  the  city,  and  may  be  termed  the 
'city'  or  'commercial'  harbor.  All  traffic  through  the  city,  or 
moving  from  lake  to  rail,  or  rail  to  lake,  cannot  be  handled 
at  an  outside  harbor.  Some  of  this  is  high  class  package  or 
fruit  and  vegetable  freight,  which  is  carried  by  the  same  ves- 
sels that  bring  to  the  city  freight  needed  locally.  Hence  the 
'city'  harbor  must  provide  for  this  'through'  business  and 
interchange  of  lake  and  rail  traffic." — [Extract  from  Har- 
bor Commission  report  of  1909.] 

INDUSTRIAL  HARBOR— proposed  at  South  Chi- 
cago— "An  entirely  different  class  of  requirements  arises  in 
connection  with  the  handling  of  commodities  which  are  in 
transit  through  the  city,  or  which  are  required  for  manu- 
facturing. A  harbor  supplied  with  facilities  for  handling 
such  traffic  may  be  called  the  'industrial'  harbor,  and  need 
not  be  near  the  heart  of  the  city.  It  is  desirable  that  such  a 
harbor  should  be  convenient  to  an  industrial  and  manufac- 
turing neighborhood.  The  industrial  harbor  bears  about 
the  same  relation  to  a  great  city  as  do  the  freight  yards, 

50       • 


switch  tracks,  etc.,  of  a  railroad.  The  congestion  which  ex- 
ists in  large  cities  should  not  be  increased  by  attempting  to 
handle  in  the  heart  of  the  city  wares  intended  for  manufac- 
ture or  which  are  passing  through  or  being  transshipped 
from  water  to  rail  or  vice  versa."— [Extract  from  Harbor 
Commission  report  of  1909.] 

Thus  we  would  outline  to  ourselves  the  creation  of  one 
great  machine,  planned  to  handle  all  the  freight  traffic  of 
Chicago— preventing  congestion  in  the  freight  yards,  saving 
untold  sums  in  the  handling  of  goods,  preserving  pavements 
from  unmeasured  needless  wear,  carrying  on  the  city's  en- 
tire business  without  waste  or  delay. 

Having  thus  disposed  of  the  city's  freight  troubles,  at- 
tention would  be  given  passenger  traffic,  so  that  the  railway 
stations  of  the  city  could  be  grouped  into  a  system  giving  us 
all  the  best  and  most  convenient  service. 

Conditions  would  lead  us  probably  to  select  the  district 
between  Clinton  and  Canal  streets,  extending  from  Twelfth 
to  Lake  streets,  for  the  railway  stations  of  the  west  side,  and 
to  arrange  the  south  side  stations  along  Twelfth  street  from 
State  street  to  the  south  branch  of  the  river. 

It  will  be  seen,  by  a  little  study  of  this  plan,  that  this  ar- 
rangement would  give  us  ideal  railway  facilities.  The  sta- 
tions should  be  arranged  so  as  to  avoid  closing  any  streets, 
either  building  the  main  stations  above  or  below  street 
grade.  The  latter  arrangement  would  appear  the  best,  be- 
cause it  would  allow  the  use  of  the  areas  above  the  railway 
tracks  all  to  be  used.  Such  parts  of  this  area  as  were  not 
used  for  station  purposes  could  be  devoted  to  business  uses, 
the  rentals  reducing  the  cost  of  operating  the  roads. 

Our  transportation  plan  provides  for  a  great  belt  line 
system  interlinking  all  railway  terminals  and  crossing  all 
surface  and  elevated  lines.  With  a  proper  system  of  trans- 
fers, we  could  save  time  for  the  people  desiring  to  reach 
various  parts  of  the  city  as  quickly  as  possible,  which  can 
only  be  arranged  by  avoiding  the  congested  downtown  dis- 
trict. Transportation  experts  concede  the  belt  line  idea  to 
be  the  only  feasible  and  practical  plan  to  accomplish  this  re- 

51 


suit.  In  a  less  comprehensive  manner  than  our  plan  desig- 
nates, the  belt  line  plan  is  operated  with  complete  satisfac- 
tion in  other  large  cities. 

Thus  we  would  complete  a  system  able  to  easily  handle 
many  times  the  number  of  people  that  at  present  are  accom- 
modated with  so  much  difficulty.  Besides  this,  our  most 
important  gain  would  be  to  restore  to  general  business  uses 
the  big  area  between  Van  Buren  and  Twelfth  streets, 
west  from  State  street  to  the  river.  It  would  mean  adding 
a  territory  almost  as  large  as  our  present  entire  downtown 
business  district  to  the  heart  of  Chicago,  making  the  growth 
of  the  city  easy  and  natural. 

Chicago's  people  are  all  appreciative  of  the  good  done 
the  city  by  the  railroads.  More  than  a  million  of  us  now 
regularly  use  their  facilities,  and  our  demand  is  constantly 
growing  for  better  service,  which  the  railway  managers  are 
anxious  to  supply.  We  want  the  irritation  to  our  nerves 
which  comes  out  of  railway  operation  reduced  to  the  mini- 
mum. We  know  the  community  will  get  far  more  out  of  its 
million  workers  when  their  nerves  cease  to  be  racked  by  ir- 
ritating conditions  and  great  noises. 

We  are  coming  to  think  well  of  the  fact  that  what  is 
best  for  the  city  as  a  whole  is  best  also  for  its  business  inter- 
ests. And  so  it  is  in  railway  matters. 

The  solution  of  the  transportation  problems  which 
would  be  of  the  best  advantage  to  the  city  will  also  most 
benefit  the  railway  lines,  each  and  all  of  them. 

The  transportation  managers  have  in  recent  years  shown 
a  desire  to  act  together  in  matters  for  the  public  good. 
Whatever  will  be  required  of  them,  therefore,  to  bring 
about  good  order  in  traffic,  it  is  expected  will  be  conceded 
by  them;  so  there  may  be  completed  a  system  of  handling 
both  freight  and  passenger  traffic  which  will  enhance  Chi- 
cago's commerce  and  thus  maintain  and  build  up  the  rail- 
roads themselves. 


52 


Street  Needs  of  Chicago. 

"City  streets  are  the  parlor  and  playground 

of  the  poor — the  happy  hunting 

ground  of  youth." 

HEN  we  think  with  a  view  to  deciding  what  the 
greatest  needs  of  a  city  are,  we  conclude,  gener- 
ally, that  two  things  are  of  the  greatest  impor- 
tance.    The   first  need   is   for  enough   streets, 
sufficiently  wide  and  running  in  the  right  direc- 
tion, to  permit  the  people  to  go  about  the  city  easily  and 
quickly.     The  second  is  park  area  great  enough  to  insure 
good  health  and  a  pleasing  appearance. 

Proper  street  arrangements  are  the  prime  need  because 
we  are  all  interested  in  saving  time.  Life  is  made  up  of 
minutes,  and  to  save  minutes  means  to  lengthen  life.  Time, 
then,  is  of  tremendous  value  to  us  all,  and  almost  any  sacri- 
fice of  money  today  is  right  if  we  can  save  daily  minutes  for 
the  millions  of  tomorrow. 

Right  here  we  should  remind  ourselves  that  Chicago  has 
at  no  time'  ever  looked  far  enough  ahead.  We  can  all  see 
today  the  mistakes  made  when  Chicago  was  rebuilding  after 
the  fire  of  1871.  We  see  how  the  people  then  were  short 
sighted  in  not  planning  for  the  orderly  growth  of  the  city. 
We  must  understand,  then,  that  the  people  of  Chicago  twen- 
ty-five years  hence  will  hold  us  in  light  esteem  if  we  let  slip 
the  opportunities  before  us  today. 

We  should  not  feel,  in  considering  the  street  needs  of 
Chicago,  that  there  is  any  danger  of  undertaking  too  big  a 
plan,  or  of  over-shooting  the  mark.  This  fact  was  well 
shown  in  the  work  of  erecting  our  new  county  building. 
We  started  a  structure  more  than  twice  as  big  as  the  one  then 
existing  for  county  purposes,  but  before  it  was  finished  our 
needs  had  outgrown  the  new  structure.  It  was  the  same 
with  our  new  city  hall.  Neither  of  those  structures  is  large 

53 


enough  to  house  the  departments  of  government  for  which 
it  was  intended. 

In  all  growing  cities  it  has  been  necessary,  before  build- 
ing according  to  an  orderly  plan,  to  begin,  at  large  expense, 
to  correct  the  error  of  not  having  a  plan  to  build  upon  when 

•« 


__^e^ k~__j 

**  f    x 

Am  .  >^      i  it 


i.r 


•I  *+W   .   -•»  •  r  '        ^* 

NL      V       /        .-^i-%  A    t/& 

r-^       \      ^     '        A*"  ^vX  !       x  r  1 

Nx  _J?V^^"T  /\\  y      ^ 


CHICAGO.  Plan  of  the  center  of  the  city,  showing  the  present  street 
and  boulevard  system,  the  proposed  additional  arteries  and  street  widenings 
(heavy  black). 

(Copyrighted  by  the  Commercial  Club  of  Chicago.) 
54 


the  city  was  founded.  The  longer  this  beginning  has  been 
delayed  the  greater  has  been  the  expense.  To  postpone  it 
means  multiplying  the  cost,  besides  a  greater  burden  of  dis- 
comfort and  loss  of  business  every  day. 

Later  on  will  be  discussed  the  history  of  other  cities  in 
this  work,  and  the  tremendous  cost  they  have  had  to  pay  for 
delay.  But  it  may  be  said  now  that  all  these  cities  have 
found  that  no  matter  how  great  the  labor  or  how  large  the 
cost,  the  result  has  always  well  repaid  the  necessary  outlay. 

Let  us  see  how  it  is  best  to  lay  out,  construct  and  keep  up 
the  streets  in  a  city  like  Chicago.  Beginning  in  the  retail 
district,  the  past  has  taught  us  we  should  have  streets  from 
eighty  to  one  hundred  feet  wide,  with  smooth,  noiseless  pave- 
ments. The  lighting  and  signs  should  be  arranged  to  give  a 
pleasing  general  effect.  Such  streets  should  be  about  equally 
divided  into  roadway  and  sidewalk  space. 

Where  heavy  tonnage  is  moving  a  width  of  from  seventy 
to  ninety  feet  is  desirable,  a  little  more  than  half  being  given 
to  roadway.  Here  the  pavements  should  be  most  wear- 
resisting,  regardless  of  noise. 

Next  comes  the  usual  residence  street.  Here  we  may 
well  lessen  the  space  devoted  to  traffic  to  from  twenty  to 
thirty-six  feet,  as  necessity  warrants.  We  should  do  this 
where  houses  are  crowded  together  or  apartments  abound  so 
the  smaller  children  may  have  playgrounds  close  at  hand, 
and  that  grass  and  trees  may  add  to  appearances  and  furnish 
shade  for  pedestrians. 

After  that  we  consider  the  avenues,  or  traffic  streets. 
These  should  be  wide  enough  to  draw  in  the  streams  of 
traffic  passing  from  one  part  of  the  city  to  other  parts,  and 
to  provide  for  street  car  traffic,  keeping  the  stream  of  ordi- 
nary vehicles  and  cars  each  moving  in  its  own  place  and  not 
interfering  with  each  other. 

Then  we  think  of  the  boulevards.  From  these  we  ex- 
clude heavy  traffic.  They  are  the  wide  streets,  of  fine  dwell- 
ings, ornamented  with  grass,  shrubs  and  trees.  They  pro- 
vide continuous  playgrounds  for  the  children  of  the  neigh- 
borhood. They  give  us  places  for  statues  and  fountains. 

55 


Our  parks  are  connected  with  them.  We  adorn  them  with 
flowers  and  embellish  them  with  rare  and  beautiful  trees  and 
plants.  They  are  important  ornamental  features  of  our  city, 
elevating  and  educational. 

Lastly,  and  most  important,  come  the  time  and  distance 
saving  diagonal  streets.  We  all  know  their  value.  We  all 
know  that  Chicago  could  not  possibly  be  the  huge  city  it  is 
today  if  it  had  not  always  had  such  streets  as  Milwaukee, 
Lincoln,  Ogden,  Blue  Island,  Archer  and  other  avenues— 
the  straight-aiming  trails  of  the  Indian  and  the  trapper- 
developed  to  aid  in  the  handling  of  its  people  and  its  traffic. 
Usually  cities  are  compelled  to  create  these  diagonals,  al- 
ways at  great  expense.  But  no  matter  what  the  expense,  it  is 
always  found  that  these  streets,  when  constructed,  pay  in  con- 
venience and  time-saving,  many  times  over  what  they  origi- 
nally cost. 

It  is  certain  that  Chicago  needs  more  diagonal  streets 
than  it  has.  The  need  is  greatest  for  direct  routes  by  diago- 
nals to  connect  the  north  and  south  sides  of  Chicago  with  its 
great  west  side.  The  need  of  more  open  spaces  on  the  west 
side  itself  is  already  acknowledged  in  the  movement  for 
small  parks.  These  spaces  could  be  created  in  large  part 
by  cutting  diagonal  streets  through,  thus  letting  light  and 
air  into  all  crowded  sections.  A  further  benefit  of  a  proper 
system  of  such  thoroughfares  is  that  they  will  serve  at  all 
times  to  provide  fresh  air  and  healthfulness  to  all  parts  of 
the  city,  no  matter  from  which  direction  the  wind  may  be 
blowing. 

Diagonal  streets  which  would  serve  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  people  daily  ought  now,  experts  say,  to  be  cut 
through  the  central  part  of  Chicago  on  these  routes : 

First,  from  the  crossing  of  Chicago  avenue  and  Lincoln 
Park  boulevard  southwesterly  to  Milwaukee  avenue  and 
Canal  street. 

Second,  from  the  crossing  of  West  Washington  and 
Canal  streets  southwesterly  to  the  crossing  of  West  Congress 
and  Halsted  streets.  These  two  streets  completed,  we  would 
have  an  almost  straight  street,  practically  extending  Blue 
Island  avenue  to  the  lake  front  at  Chicago  avenue. 

56 


Third,  from  the  crossing  of  Halsted  and  West  Congress 
streets  southeasterly  to  the  crossing  of  West  Twelfth  and 
Canal  streets,  and  thence  still  southeasterly,  and  crossing  the 
river  at  Sixteenth  street,  to  Archer  avenue  at  State  street, 
and,  still  southeasterly,  to  Cottage  Grove  avenue  at  Twenty- 
second  street. 

By  cutting  a  further  street  from  the  crossing  of  Milwau- 
kee and  North  Ashland  avenues  to  Halsted  and  West  Con- 
gress streets  we  would  have  an  almost  straight  street  con- 
necting the  extreme  northwest  and  southeast  sides  of 
Chicago. 

The  value  of  the  "quadrangle"  around  the  center  of  the 
downtown  district  is  apparent  to  us  all,  especially  when  we 
foresee  the  growth  of  the  retail  business  district  bringing 
such  high  values  for  land  in  these  districts  that  the  factories 
will  be  crowded  further  out,  and  the  proposed  diagonal 
streets  become  great,  wide  retail  streets. 

When  we  consider  that  at  the  present  day  it  is  necessary 
for  people  wishing  to  go  from  either  the  north  or  south  to 
the  west  side  of  the  city  to  travel  long  distances  at  right  an- 
gles, we  are  forced  to  decide  that  this  is  wrong,  and  ought 
not  to  continue.  Besides  that,  we  know  that- today  if  one 
wants  to  make  such  a  trip  quickly  he  is  forced  in  most  cases 
to  go  through  the  business  district  in  the  city's  center.  Thus 
everybody  is  constantly  getting  in  the  way  of  everybody  els 
and  adding  to  the  useless  crowding  of  the  downtown  streets. 

We  ask  ourselves  if  we  cannot  do  something  to  bring  the 
various  sides  of  the  city  into  closer  touch  with  each  other. 

We  begin  a  study  of  the  plans  of  the  architects,  which  we 
must  remember  are  drawn  to  prepare  for  fifty  or  more  years 
of  work  for  the  city. 

Each  of  us  is  interested,  perhaps,  in  his  own  section  of 
Chicago.  Each  of  us  wants  to  know  what  the  plan  prom- 
ises for  his  neighborhood  in  the  way  of  new  streets,  and  in 
the  way  of  convenience  in  going  about  the  city. 

Here  is  a  little  sketch  of  what  is  proposed  in  the  way  of 
new  streets  for  each  side  of  the  city,  by  which  we  can  each 
see  how  easy  the  plan  would  make  it  for  us  to  travel  through 
Chicago  if  the  streets  were  already  cut  through. 

57 


NORTH  SIDE — Let  us  begin  on  the  north  side  and 
swing  around  the  entire  city  by  way  of  the  proposed  diagonal 
streets. 

Starting  at  the  crossing  of  North  and  La  Salle  avenues 
on  the  second  circuit  of  diagonals  about  the  city's  downtown 
district  a  street  would  run  southwesterly,  crossing  Clybourn 
avenue  at  Sedgwick  street,  and  there  turning  more  westerly 
to  run  straight  southwest  to  the  crossing  of  West  Chicago 
avenue  and  North  Halsted  street,  and  continuing  thus  to 
connect  with  Ogden  avenue  near  the  crossing  of  Washing- 
ton boulevard  and  North  Ashland  avenue.  Thus  Ogden 
avenue  would  be  practically  extended  to  the  gate  of  Lincoln 
Park. 

Starting  again  at  Belmont  avenue  and  the  lake,  and  run- 
ning southwesterly  to  the  crossing  of  Lincoln  avenue  and 
North  Halsted  street,  another  new  street  would  run  thence 
straight  southwest  to  where  North  and  North  Ashland 
avenues  cross,  thence  turning  south  to  the  crossing  of  Mil- 
waukee and  North  Ashland  avenues,  and  then  southwest 
again  to  the  crossing  of  Grand  and  North  Western  avenues, 
and  then  still  southwesterlv  to  connect  with  Colorado  avenue 

it 

at  West  Madison  street.     Thus  would  be  provided  a  new 
highway  reaching  from  beyond  South  Fifty-third  avenue  to 
the  lake  shore  at  the  north  extremity  of  Lincoln  Park  as  it  is 
'  to  be  when  extension  work  now  in  progress  is  completed. 

Again  starting  at  the  lake  shore,  this  time  at  Irving  Park 
boulevard,  a  new  street  would  be  cut  through  southwesterly 
to  the  crossing  of  Lincoln  avenue  and  North  Ashland 
avenue,  thence  straight  southwest  to  the  crossing  of  West 
Fullerton  avenue  and  North  Western  avenue,  and  on  south- 
west to  Humboldt  Park  at  North  Kedzie  and  West  North 
avenues.  Then  the  route  would  be  south  in  North  Kedzie 
avenue  to  the  southwest  corner  of  Humboldt  Park,  where 
the  new  street  would  go  on  cutting  southwest  to  West  Con- 
gress street  at  Fifty-second  avenue. 

Short  diagonals  would  also  be  cut  from  Irving  Park 
boulevard  and  the  lake  shore  northwesterly  to  Lawrence 
avenue,  near  North  Ashland  avenue,  and  from  that  point 

58 


southwest  to  North  Western  avenue  and  Irving  Park  boule- 
vard. 

WEST  SIDE — Over  on  the  west  side  the  chief  diagonal 
streets  needed  would  find  a  common  center  at  South  Halsted 
and  West  Congress  streets. 

Starting  from  that  point,  where  is  planned  the  future 
center  of  Chicago,  the  first  of  these  new  streets  would  run 
northerly  and  westerly  to  connect  with  Milwaukee  avenue 
near  North  Ashland  avenue,  which  would  thus  become  prac- 
tically a  straight  extension  of  the  new  highway. 

The  second  new  street  would  be  cut  from  the  same  point 
at  South  Halsted  street  westerly  and  north  to  Grand  avenue 
and  North  Western  avenue,  connecting  there  with  Grand 
avenue  and  making  that  street  a  long  straight  avenue  run- 
ning to  the  center  at  Halsted  street. 

The  third  of  these  new  streets  would  run  from  the  same 
point  westerly  and  south  to  where  West  Twelfth  street 
crosses  South  Ashland  avenue.  It  would  open  up  a  greatly 
congested  part  of  Chicago,  give  ease  of  travel  and  add  to 
public  health. 

All  the  remaining  new  diagonal  streets  needed  on  the 
west  side  can  be  best  shown,  perhaps,  by  beginning  to  lay 
them  out  and  show  how  they  will  connect  the  west  and  south 
sides  of  the  city.  -  Together,  they  form  the  remainder  of  the 
general  plan  for  giving  all  the  people  of  Chicago  free  ways 
of  travel  to  all  parts  of  the  city. 

Starting,  then,  to  show  how  best  to  connect  the  south  and 
west  sides  of  Chicago,  a  new  street  would  start  at  Thirty- 
ninth  street  and  the  lake  shore,  and  run  northwest  to  Thirty- 
first  street  and  Wentworth  avenue,  crossing  Grand  boule- 
vard at  Thirty-fifth  street.  On  northwesterly  it  would  go 
to  South  Halsted  street  at  Archer  avenue.  South  Halsted 
street  would  be  the  route  then  to  West  Twenty-second  street, 
when  the  street  would  again  cut  northwesterly  to  the  cross- 
ing of  West  Twelfth  street  and  South  Ashland  avenue,  and 
on  in  the  same  direction  to  cut  Ogden  avenue  at  West  Con- 
gress street,  finally  ending  at  the  crossing  of  North  Western 
avenue  and  Grand  avenue. 

Another  great  highway  to  the  west  side  would  start  at 

59 


CHICAGO.  Plan  of  the  complete  system  of  street  circulation;  railway 
stations;  parks,  boulevard  circuits  and  radial  arteries;  public  recreation 
piers;  yacht  harbor  and  pleasure-boat  piers;  treatment  of  Grant  Park;  the 
main  axis  and  the  Civic  Center,  presenting  the  city  as  a  complete  organism 
in  which  all  its  functions  are  related  one  to  another  in  such  a  manner 
that  it  will  become  a  unit. 

(Copyrighted  by  the  Commercial  Club  of  Chicago.) 


the  western  edge  of  Jackson  Park  at  Sixty-seventh  street, 
and  run  northwest  to  the  southeast  corner  of  Washington 
Park  at  Cottage  Grove  avenue,  and  through  or  around  the 
park  to  where  Garfield  boulevard  enters  the  park.  Then  it 
would  cut  northwest  again,  crossing  Wentworth  avenue  at 
Forty-seventh  street,  South  Halsted  street  at  Thirty-ninth 
street,  crossing  the  river  at  South  Ashland  avenue  near 
Thirty-first  street,  and  north  on  South  Ashland  avenue  to 
West  Twenty-second  street,  thence  northwest  again  to  South 
Western  avenue  at  West  Twelfth  street,  and  then  westerly 
and  north  to  North  Forty-eighth  avenue  near  Washington 
boulevard,  crossing  Colorado  avenue  at  Garfield  Park. 

Another  route,  further  out  still,  would  follow  in  its 
southeasterly  section  a  route  alongside  the  Lake  Shore  and 
Michigan  Southern  railway  to  about  Sixtieth  street  near 
State  street,  then  under  the  railway  tracks  to  Wentworth 
avenue  and  there  begin  cutting  northwestward,  crossing 
South  Halsted  street  at  Garfield  boulevard,  and  South 
Ashland  avenue  at  Forty-seventh  street.  It  would  join 
South  Western  avenue  at  Thirty-ninth  street,  and  run  north 
in  Western  avenue  to  West  Thirty-first  street,  west  in 
Thirty-first  street  to  the  crossing  of  an  extension  of  Blue 
Island  avenue  at  West  Thirty-first  street,  and  thence  north- 
westerly to  cross  Ogden  avenue  at  South  Fortieth  avenue, 
and  thence  northwest  indefinitely,  crossing  West  Congress 
street  at  South  Fifty-second  avenue,  and  running  indefi- 
nitely into  the  country. 

SOUTH  SIDE— The  south  side  would  have  to  have  a 
number  of  diagonal  streets  created  for  the  use  of  its  own 
people,  designed  to  serve  such  general  purposes  as  is  served 
for  the  north  side  by  Evanston,  Lincoln,  Clybourn  and  El- 
ston  avenues  and  by  Clark  street. 

One  such  street  would  be  cut  through  from  the  crossing 
of  Michigan  avenue  and  Twenty-second  street,  running 
southwesterly,  crossing  Wentworth  avenue  at  Thirty-first 
street,  and  running  to  South  Halsted  street  at  Thirty-ninth 
street,  there  being  broken  by  the  stockyards,  but  resuming 
its  course  at  about  South  Ashland  avenue  at  Forty-seventh 

61 


street,  and  being  planned  to  continue  then  indefinitely 
southwest. 

Another  street  for  south  and  southwest  side  uses  would 
begin  at  Thirty-first  street  and  the  lake,  running  southwest- 
erly, crossing  Grand  boulevard  at  Thirty-fifth  street, 
Michigan  avenue  at  Thirty-ninth  street,  State  street  near 
Forty-third  street,  Wentworth  avenue  at  Forty-seventh 
street,  South  Halsted  street  at  Garfield  boulevard  and  South 
Ashland  avenue  at  Sixty-seventh  street,  also  continuing  in- 
definitely in  the  same  direction. 

Finally,  diagonal  streets  would  be  driven  from  the  lake 
shore  at  Thirty-ninth  street  southwest  to  Grand  boulevard 
at  Washington  Park;  and  from  the  lake  shore  at  Forty- 
seventh  street  southwest  to  the  northwest  corner  of  Wash- 
ington Park. 

"Streets  should  be  made  to  blossom 

once    in    a   while.      Usually    they 

are  all  stem   and  no   blossom" 

LINKING  ALL  STREET  SYSTEMS— Finally,  to 
link  all  the  street  systems  together  in  an  effective,  practical 
and  impressive  manner  there  is  planned  a  wide,  park-like 
boulevard  to  sweep  across  the  entire  southwest,  west  and 
northwest  sides  of  the  city.  It  would  be  throughout  its 
length  equally  distant  from  the  civic  center  at  South  Hal- 
sted and  West  Congress  streets.  It  would  serve  as  a  great 
continuous  driveway  across  the  city  and  as  a  park  through- 
out its  entire  length,  and  come  to  be  known  in  time  as  one 
of  the  most  wonderful  architectural  features  of  any  city 
on  earth. 

This  curving  boulevard  would  start  at  Garfield  boule- 
vard and  South  Western  avenue,  and  curve  around  to  con- 
nect with  Irving  Park  boulevard  at  North  Western  avenue, 
eleven  miles  away,  holding  a  width  of  300  or  500  feet 
throughout  its  course.  In  its  sweep  it  would  touch  Fifty- 
second  avenue  on  the  west,  and  it  would  cut  the  courses  of 
every  important  diagonal  street  of  the  city.  Most  of  the 
land  needed  for  this  great  arc  could  be  secured  today  at 
very  low  cost. 

62 


In  planning  the  circling  avenue  across  the  city,  a  scheme 
for  regular  and  systematic  park  work  in  connection  with  it 
has  been  undertaken.  Both  ends  of  the  great  sweeping 
boulevard  would  be  at  the  entrances  to  great  parks,  and 
midway  of  the  arc,  where  West  Congress  street  would  cut 
it,  has  been  planned  another  people's  playground,  and  one 
larger  than  any  now  existing  in  Chicago. 

The  park  planned  at  the  southern  end  of  the  curved  bou- 
levard would  include  the  mile  square  bounded  by.  Western 
and  Kedzie  avenues  from  Garfield  boulevard  to  Sixty-third 
street,  besides  some  150  acres  northeast  of  that  square.  The 
park  at  the  West  Congress  street  intersection  of  the  arc  is 
planned  as  of  a  width  measuring  from  Taylor  street  to 
Monroe  street,  and  to  reach  from  about  Fiftieth  avenue  to 
Sixty-sixth  avenue  or  about  two  miles.  Such  a  park  would 
be  of  over  1,000  acres.  The  park  at  the  northern  end  of  the 
curving  boulevard  would  extend  from  North  Western 
avenue  west  to  about  Whipple  street,  or  three-quarters  of  a 
mile.  Its  western  border  would  run  from  Addison  street 
north  to  Lawrence  avenue,  a  mile  and  a  half.  Its  eastern 
border  would  run  north  on  North  Western  avenue  from 
Byron  street,  two  blocks  south  of  Irving  Park  boulevard, 
to  Lawrence  avenue,  a  mile  and  a  quarter.  There  would 
be  added,  to  complete  the  plan  for  this  park,  about  forty 
acres  lying  east  of  North  Western  avenue  and  as  far  as 
Irving  avenue,  extending  from  Byron  street  to  Cullom 
avenue. 

These  great  parks,  thus  made  easy  for  all  Chicagoans  to 
reach,  would  be  laid  out  and  improved  after  the  manner  our 
present  west  side  parks  have  been  beautified.  They  would 
complete  the  street  and  park  plan  necessary  to  the  good 
order,  good  health,  progress  and  wealth  of  Chicago  when 
it  shall  be  a  city  of  ten  or  fifteen  millions  of  people. 


63 


Building  a  Civic  Center. 

HICAGO  is  held  by  leading  architects  and  ex- 
perts in  city  planning  to  have  advantages  for 
greatness  superior  to  any  city  anywhere  in  the 
world. 

Let  us  look  at  the  facts  briefly  so  we  may  see 
and  appreciate  the  chance  our  city  has  to  accomplish  almost 
without  effort  and  with  comparatively  small  expense,  that 
which  cities  the  world  over  are  struggling  to  do,  that  is,  to 
unite  all  their  governmental  forces  in  one  center. 

It  has  been  said  that  Congress  street  has  been  selected  as 
the  central  east  and  west  street  of  the  Plan  of  Chicago. 
This  is  for  many  practical  reasons. 

We  have  seen  how  the  density  of  population  of  Chicago 
is  constantly  moving  to  the  southwest.  In  that  direction, 
then,  lies  the  future  true  center  of  our  city. 

Now,  why  was  Congress  street  chosen  as  the  thorough- 
fare to  be  made  a  great  avenue  leading  into  the  heart  of  the 
west  side? 

Looking  at  the  facts  today,  we  find  that  Congress  street 
is  substantially  in  the  business  center  of  Chicago.  It  is 
equally  distant  from  Washington  and  Twelfth  streets,  and 
from  Twenty-second  street  and  Chicago  avenue,  which  four 
streets  are  important  parts  of  the  great  city  plan  and  the 
natural  plan  for  the  harbor  of  the  future  Chicago. 

You  will  remember  that  the  harbor  proper  lies  between 
Twelfth  and  Washington  streets,  which  are  to  be  extended 
into  the  lake,  under  the  plan,  to  land-lock  the  central  har- 
bor. You  will  remember,  too,  that  the  great  piers  to  mark 
the  entrance  to  the  harbor  and  to  provide  lake  parks  for 
future  Chicagoans  are  to  jut  out  from  Chicago  avenue  and 
from  Twenty-second  street. 

Congress  street  is  equally  distant,  too,  from  the  two 
great  east  and  west  railway  rights-of-way  at  Kinzie  street 
on  the  north  and  Sixteenth  street  on  the  south. 

64 


65 


Economy  dictates  the  selection  of  Congress  street  be- 
cause it  is  now  a  street  of  disconnected  character.  The 
buildings  throughout  the  district  it  is  proposed  to  widen 
are  comparatively  inexpensive,  too.  Also  if  we  were  to 
widen  another  street  we  would  have  to  destroy  two  front- 
ages to  obtain  sufficient  width,  while  the  opening  of  Con- 
gress street  can  be  done  by  taking  only  one  frontage. 

Again,  to  open  Congress  street  means  combining  its  use- 
fulness with  that  of  Van  Buren  street  on  the  north  and 
Harrison  street  on  the  south. 

More  reason  for  the  choice  can  be  found  in  the  fact  that 
Congress  street  terminates  practically  at  the  center  of  Grant 
Park  at  the  lake  front,  a  point  of  beauty  in  the  arrangement 
of  such  a  highway  that  must  not  be  overlooked. 

The  new  Congress  street  would  be  widened  from  Wa- 
bash  avenue  to  Canal  street,  with  a  greater  width  from  that 
point  to  the  civic  center  at  Halsted  street.  It  would  be  built 
up  as  a  highly  adorned  thoroughfare,  with  theatres,  semi- 
public  buildings  and  great  retail  shops. 

Picture  this  great  street,  with  separate  divisions  for  its 
different  classes  of  traffic,  running  westward  from  the  lake. 
Imagine  that  from  its  center  arises  a  great  bronze  dome, 
hundreds  of  feet  into  the  air.  Fancy  this  impressive  dome, 
plainly  viewed  by  a  million  people  daily  traveling  on  the 
ten  broad  streets  approaching  this  center,  thus  always  telling 
Chicago's  millions  and  Chicago's  guests  of  the  dignity  and 
importance  of  our  great  city.  If  you  can  do  this,  you  can 
get  a  faint  foretaste  of  the  civic  center  as  Chicago  can  real- 
ize it  in  her  future  days. 

In  detail,  the  civic  center  planned  at  Halsted  and  Con- 
gress streets  can  be  described  as  a  move  to  assemble  at  that 
place  the  great  buildings  of  the  City  of  Chicago,  Cook 
County  and  the  United  States  government.  These  build- 
ings, it  is  felt  by  the  architects,  should  be  constructed  as  a 
group.  Each  should  be  made  part  of  a  plan,  and  the  plan 
should  be  carried  out  to  produce  in  the  buildings,  when 
erected,  the  most  beautiful,  impressive  and  perfect  archi- 
tectural effect  possible. 


CHICAGO.  The  business  center  of  the  city  within  the  first  circuit 
boulevard,  showing  the  proposed  grand  east-and-west  axis  and  its  relation 
to  Grant  Park  and  the  yacht  harbor;  the  railway  terminals  schemes  on 
the  south  and  west  sides,  and  the  Civic  Center. 

(Copyrighted  by  the  Commercial  Club  of  Chicago.) 


It  is  the  united  opinion  of  all  who  have  studied  the  mat- 
ter, that  the  municipal  buildings  should  be  the  largest  in  the 
group  proposed.  They  also  should  occupy  the  center  of  the 
scene,  with  the  federal  and  county  buildings  in  smaller 
groups  at  each  side  of  the  Congress  street  axis. 

The  plan,  as  drawn,  provides  for  opening  a  space  cover- 
ing perhaps  four  blocks  east  of  Halsted  street,  that  is,  the 
space  from  Jefferson  to  Halsted  street  between  West  Har- 
rison and  West  Van  Buren  streets,  or  a  larger  space  if  neces- 
sary, and  arranging  to  group  the  county  building  on  one 
side  of  Congress  street,  with  the  federal  building  on  the 
other. 

The  plan  further  provides  for  opening  up  a  great  trian- 
gle west  of  Halsted  street,  with  its  greatest  side  on  that 
thoroughfare.  The  peak  of  the  triangle  would  be,  perhaps, 
two  blocks  west  of  Halsted  street  in  Congress  street.  With- 
in the  triangle  would  be  erected  the  city  buildings, — monu- 
mental structures  exceeding  in  impressiveness  those  of  any 
other  city  in  the  country  and  perhaps  in  the  world. 

The  land  necessary  for  this  improvement,  which  would 
provide  a  group  of  buildings  carrying  Chicago's  fame 
around  the  world,  could  be  secured  at  a  cost  not  too  large 
to  be  assumed  by  so  great  a  city  as  our  Chicago,  and  very 
much  cheaper  in  cost  than  in  other  localities  close  to  the 
present  business  center  and  not  so  desirable  for  the  purpose. 

Into  the  spacious  civic  center  as  laid  out,  all  the  wide 
thoroughfares,  including  the  new-made  streets  centering 
there,  would  empty  their  crowds.  The  great  dome  of  the 
city  hall  would  be  visible  for  miles  in  any  direction.  It 
would  form  the  finest  monument  ever  built,  probably,  at  the 
junction  of  any  group  of  streets  in  the  world.  It  would  be 
perpetual,  stand  forever,  and  for  all  time  anchor  Chicago's 
center.  It  would  form  an  ideal  nucleus  about  which  to  build 
the  future  greatest  city  of  the  world. 

That  such  a  center  is  a  real  need  of  the  city  today,  and 
that  steps  ought  to  be  taken  to  provide  it,  we  can  all  see. 
The  federal  building  of  Chicago,  as  is  well  known,  has 
never  from  the  day  it  was  opened  been  large  enough  to 

68 


69 


house  the  government  departments  in  Chicago.  Growth  of 
the  city  during  the  last  ten  years  has  made  it  hopelessly 
small  for  the  purposes  intended.  Like  the  city  and  county 
buildings,  it  is  too  small,  and  like  them,  too,  will  have  to  be 
replaced  within  a  very  few  years.  When  this  time  comes 
Chicago  ought  to  be  ready  to  gather  its  great  public  build- 
ings together  at  this  logical  business  and  geographical 
center. 


70 


The  Cost— How  to  Divide  It. 

HEN  the  Mayor  of  Chicago  created  the  Chicago 
Plan  Commission  he  sent  that  body  the  plans  as 
drawn  by  Architect  Daniel  H.  Burnham,  saying 
that  it  could  be  taken  as  a  suggestion  for  begin- 
ning the  work  of  orderly  construction  for  the 
city.  Since  then  eighteen  months  have  passed,  and  the 
ablest  business  and  scientific  minds  of  Chicago  have  studied 
the  plan.  It  has  been  examined  from  every  angle.  Its 
sharpest  critics  have  been  unable  to  point  to  a  serious  defect 
in  it. 

The  result  of  this  eighteen  months  of  trial  by  fire  of  the 
Plan  of  Chicago  has  been  to  set  the  minds  of  the  men  who 
know  most  about  the  plan  in  a  determination  that  Chicago 
must  and  shall  carry  out  the  plan  as  it  has  been  laid  down 
for  them.  We  may  well  say,  in  that  case,  that  we  all  will 
see  it  the  same  way  and  want  the  Plan  of  Chicago  carried 
out.  PUBLIC  SENTIMENT  IN  CHICAGO  SHOULD 
DEMAND  THAT  THE  PLAN  AS  IT  EXISTS  BE 
ADOPTED  AS  THE  OFFICIAL  PLAN  OF  CHI- 
CAGO. The  sooner  that  is  done  the  more  quickly  will  any 
portion  of  the  plan  be  realized  by  building  to  it  in  the  mak- 
ing of  necessary  public  improvements  that  are  bound  to  be 
inaugurated  from  this  time  on  through  the  coming  years. 

What,  then,  is  the  next  step  for  us? 

What  will  it  cost? 

How  will  it  be  paid  for? 

To  decide  these  questions,  we  must  set  down  just  what 
the  plan  provides  for  us,  as  the  people  of  Chicago,  to  do. 
These  six  things: 

First,  to  improve  the  lake  front. 

Second,  to  create  and  bind  together  a  system  of  high- 
ways outside  of  the  city. 

Third,  to  improve  the  railway  terminals  and  develop  a 
better  way  to  handle  Chicago's  freight  and  passenger 
business. 

71 


Fourth,  to  acquire  an  outer  park  system  and  to  build  a 
system  of  parkway  circuits. 

Fifth,  to  so  arrange  the  streets  within  the  city  as  to  make 
it  easier  to  go  from  one  part  of  Chicago  to  any  other  part, 
and  to  end  congestion  in  the  central  business  district. 

Sixth,  to  develop  a  great  center  of  civic  government,  and 
erect  there  great  monumental  buildings  typifying  the  spirit 
of  Chicago  and  inspiring  the  city's  people  to  a  deeper  civic 
patriotism. 

Of  course,  it  looks  to  us  at  first  sight  as  if  it  is  beyond 
our  power  to  pay  for  these  things.  As  a  fact,  though,  if  we 
citizens  of  Chicago  decide  we  want  the  plan  carried  out  it 
can  be  done  without  increasing  our  city  expenses  very  much. 
Few  of  us  know  that  in  fact  the  assessed  value  of  real  estate 
in  our  city  in  the  last  ten  years  is  greater  than  the  entire 
cost  of  putting  the  plan  in  operation. 

Besides  that,  we  have  in  our  city  of  Chicago  a  great 
growing  institution,  creating  wealth  faster  than  mines  can 
produce  it.  Our  growth  alone  furnishes  a  basis  for  bond 
issues  greater  than  the  entire  cost  of  the  plan.  And,  too, 
the  changes  will  lead  to  increasing  the  city's  growth  in 
wealth,  so  that  we  plainly  have  a  way  to  do  the  work  if  we 
want  to. 

It  may  be  necessary  for  us  to  have  new  laws  passed  at 
Springfield  to  give  Chicago  an  equal  chance  in  financing 
her  city  building  with  her  sister  cities  engaged  in  such 
work.  Clearly,  we  may  have  such  new  laws  if  we  will  ask 
for  them.  Now  let  us  go  on,  counting  the  cost  of  each  step 
and  seeing  how  it  is  to  be  paid : 

New  York  is  adding  to  Governor's  Island  made  ground 
from  city  refuse,  one  mile  by  one-half  mile  in  area. 

To  improve  our  lake  front  will  cost  next  to  nothing, — 
indeed  it  can  be  done  at  a  saving  on  what  we  are  spending 
today.  We  have  a  million  cubic  yards  of  waste  material 
every  year.  It  can  be  dumped  on  the  lake  front  cheaper 
than  any  place  else'.  Dumped  there,  it  will  build  up  from 
twenty-seven  to  thirty-three  acres  of  land  every  year,  and  so 
we  can  produce  the  parkways  and  islands,  leaving  only  the 

72 


breakwaters  and  bridges  to  be  built.  In  thirty  years  Chi- 
cago's waste  would  supply  all  the  material  for  the  islands 
between  Grant  and  Jackson  parks,  giving  us  a  yacht  harbor 
and  a  center  for  boating  rivaling  the  famed  course  at  Hen- 
ley on  Thames,  the  greatest  water  pleasure  course  on  earth. 

Long  before  the  end  of  thirty  years,  however,  the  amount 
of  filling  seeking  the  lake  front  will  be  vastly  increased. 
The  dirt  to  be  disposed  of  from  subway  building  will  go  far 
toward  completing  the  lake  shore  parks,  and  the  entire  lake 
front,  from  Wilmette  to  the  Indiana  state  line,  can  within 
the  lives  of  most  of  us  be  made  a  great,  beautiful  public 
playground,  a  refuge  from  summer  heat  and  a  place  for 
winter  sports.  We  should  not  forget  that  this  new  park  to 
be  created  from  the  city's  refuse  will  always  belong  to  the 
people. 

To  have  the  roads  outside  Chicago  for  a  distance  of 
sixty  miles  improved,  as  are  those  about  the  great  cities  in 
Europe,  can  be  done  very  cheaply.  Ninety-five  per  cent 
of  the  necessary  roads  now  exist.  Townships  will  be  asked 
and  will,  no  doubt,  readily  co-operate  in  opening  up  the  re- 
maining five  per  cent.  To  widen  and  straighten  those  few 
roads  needing  that  treatment,  to  plant  trees  along  them  for 
beauty  and  shade,  and  to  macadamize  them,  is  a  work  of 
apparent  ease.  We  do  not  need  to  worry  about  that. 

Next  we  turn  to  the  improvement  of  the  railway  termi- 
nals. While  this  move  is  of  great  importance  to  us  all,  we 
must  remember  that  when  it  is  undertaken  we  will  not  be 
called  upon  to  pay  for  the  work.  It  will  be  a  railroad  en- 
terprise, undertaken  for  and  carried  out  by  the  railroad 
companies,  which  will  unite  in  paying  for  it. 

While  we  are  thinking  of  this  railroad  move,  we  must 
determine  that  Chicago  ought  to  aid,  assist  and  co-operate 
with  the  railways  in  the  changes,  for  Chicago's  future  as  a 
shipping  and  factory  center  depends  upon  it.  It  is  the  cost 
per  ton  of  handling  freight  into  and  out  of  Chicago  that 
measures  our  city's  commercial  prosperity.  The  cheaper 
it  can  be  done,  the  bigger  and  more  wealthy  will  Chicago 
become. 

That  the  street  railway  companies  will  carry  out  their 

73 


part  of  the  traction  plan  is  already  assured.  In  fact,  work 
has  already  been  done  by  them  to  that  end. 

Thus  we  are  brought  down  to  the  three  propositions  of 
the  outer  parks,  the  streets  and  parks  within  the  city  and  the 
civic  center.  The  additional  parks  provided  for  in  the  Plan 
of  Chicago  are  extensive,  and  rightly  so  when  we  consider 
the  growth  and  coming  size  of  our  city.  Fifty  years  ago,  be- 
fore population  had  become  dense  in  parts  of  the  city,  people 
could  live  without  parks.  It  is  not  so  today.  We  today 
hold  the  promotion  of  health  of  mind  and  body  a  necessary 
public  duty,  that  our  city  may  have  a  higher  degree  of 
good  citizenship,  which,  after  all,  is  the  first  object  of  good 
city  planning. 

The  extensive  woodland  outer  parks  proposed,  with  the 
new  city  parks  covering  an  area  of  sixty  thousand  acres, 
means  a  considerable  investment.  It  would  put  Chicago 
almost  on  a  level  with  Berlin  in  parks.  The  German  capi- 
tal has  seventy-five  thousand  acres  of  parks,  including  one 
park  of  nine  thousand  acres,  no  farther  removed  from  the 
center  of  the  city  than  our  Washington  Park,  while  Chi- 
cago's present  park  area  is  only  thirty-two  hundred  acres. 

Experts  say  the  outer  park  system  can  be  completed 
within  ten  years.  We  can  arrange  by  bond  issues  to  defer 
paying  for  the  land  taken,  thus  making  the  coming  genera- 
tions, which  will  enjoy  the  parks,  assist  in  paying  for  them. 

The  plan  for  new  streets,  as  laid  out,  is  the  most  costly 
feature  of  the  Plan  of  Chicago.  But  it  will  be  found  in 
Chicago,  as  in  other  cities,  that  such  work  brings  about 
great  increases  in  property  values,  caused  by  increased  con- 
venience and  attractiveness.  The  cost  will  be  many  mil- 
lions of  dollars,  but  miles  and  miles  of  new  street  frontages, 
all  of  great  commercial  value,  will  be  created.  Sites  worth 
millions  for  the  growing  retail  business  of  the  city  will 
result. 

Other  cities  have  faced  the  situation  Chicago  faces  today. 
They  have  had  crowded,  narrow,  insufficient  streets.  They 
have  tried  for  years  to  avoid  cutting  new  ones.  They  have 
delayed,  lost  millions  upon  millions  in  trade,  inconvenienced 
their  own  people  for  decades,  and  finally  been  forced  to  do, 

74 


at  a  cost  multiplied  many  times,  that  which  they  fought  to 
avoid.  So  it  will  be  with  Chicago.  Unless  the  street 
changes  are  decided  upon  now,  and  the  work  started,  Chi- 
cago will  finally  have  to  make  them  at  a  staggering  expense. 
The  work  done,  the  result  will  be  steady  growth  and  pros- 
perity for  all  in  Chicago.  Such  prosperity  Chicago  can 
not  have  unless  it  becomes  a  convenient  and  pleasant  place 
in  which  to  live. 

To  create  the  civic  center  is  a  work  which  must  be  done 
at  general  expense  to  the  city.  We  ought  to  secure  the  land 
at  once,  while  values  at  the  point  proposed  are  reasonable. 
We  can  treat  the  land,  at  first,  as  park  space.  And  as  the 
city,  county  and  federal  governments  outgrow  their  present 
places  their  buildings  can  be  erected  for  them  at  the  new 
center  as  they  are  needed.  Each  building,  then,  will  be 
part  of  a  complete  and  beautiful  building  scheme. 

Adoption  of  this  plan  means  the  saving  of  a  very  large 
sum  in  the  purchase  of  building  sites  for  public  uses  in  the 
future.  This  development  is  of  special  importance  to  the 
west  side  territory,  as  it  will  provide  an  impetus  toward 
higher  civic  standards  there,  as  well  as  throughout  the  city. 
The  civic  center  would  benefit  every  part  of  the  city;  it 
should  be  paid  for  by  the  entire  community. 


75 


Capitalizing  the  Chicago  Spirit. 

T  HAS  been  said  a  million  times  or  more  that 
Chicago  is  the  wonder  of  the  world.  It  is  true. 
The  world  does  not  marvel  at  Chicago's  wealth. 
Her  people  are  not  plutocrats — her  millionaires 
are  few.  The  marvel  is  not  at  her  size.  Nature 
gave  us  the  location  that  under  the  touch  of  modern  com- 
merce produced  the  great  city.  It  is  not  Chicago's  growth 
that  amazes.  That  growth  naturally  accompanied  industry. 

It  is  Chicago's  spirit  which  grips  the  world's  attention. 
It  is  the  striving,  reaching,  living,  throbbing,  determined 
spirit  of  Chicago's  people  that  rivets  the  world's  gaze.  It 
is  the  I-CAN-IF-I-WILL,  undying  desire  to  excel  that 
spells  Chicago's  greatness. 

The  realization  of  the  Chicago  Plan  simply  means  the 
capitalization  of  Chicago's  civic  pride,  so  inoculated  in 
each  of  us. 

No  city  in  America — perhaps  none  in  the  world — has 
the  love  and  devotion  of  its  people  that  Chicago  has. 

No  people  of  any  city  will  labor  so  hard  or  sacrifice  so 
much  for  their  city  as  will  the  people  of  Chicago. 

It  is  this  civic  patriotism — almost  as  strong  as  our-  love 
of  country — that  has  carried  the  name  of  Chicago  in  ad- 
miration around  the  globe. 

Four  times  within  a  short  history  of  seventy-five  years 
have  we  of  Chicago  proven  to  the  world  this  soul-stirring 
devotion  to  our  city.  Four  times,  by  harnessing  the  energy 
of  every  Chicagoan,  we  have  brought  forth  civic  works  of 
great  magnitude.  Today  all  the  world  knows  that  what 
Chicago  WILLS  to  have  created  WILL  be  created,  and 
what  she  WANTS  done  WILL  be  done. 

Sixty  years  ago,  before  the  days  of  great  engineering 
feats,  Chicago's  mettle  was  first  proven  and  the  Chicago 
spirit  first  invoked.  It  became  apparent  that  to  secure 
proper  drainage  the  street  levels  of  the  entire  city  would 
have  to  be  raised.  It  was  a  tremendous  task,  for  it  meant 

76 


raising  all  the  streets  and  most  of  the  buildings  from  the 
river  to  Twelfth  street,  and  also  on  the  north  and  west  sides 
of  the  city.  The  people  of  Chicago  did  it,  amazing  the 
nation,  for  the  work  at  that  day  was  much  greater  than  to 
carry  out  the  entire  Plan  of  Chicago  would  be  today. 

The  second  great  work  was  done  fifty  years  ago,  when 
Chicago  undertook  to  acquire  and  improve  a  chain  of  parks 
extending  around  the  city.  This  was  done,  at  the  time,  not 
because  the  city  needed  the  parks  for  use,  but  because  its 
people  wanted  to  make  Chicago  attractive.  These  parks 
were  taken,  and  paid  for,  and  never  was  the  load  burden- 
some for  the  then  small  city. 

Later  came  the  need  for  purifying  the  waters  of  Lake 
Michigan  and  Chicago  again  arose  and  put  $60,000,000 
and  years  of  work  into  the  task  of  digging  the  drainage 
canal. 

Still  later  came  the  World's  Fair,  and  there  Chicago 
accomplished  a  work  never  surpassed  either  in  scope  or 
architectural  beauty.  To  spend  over  $20,000,000  in  grounds 
and  buildings,  as  Chicago  did  for  that  project,  was  a  sur- 
passing feat  of  civic  spirit  for  those  days. 

While  it  is  a  healthful  condition  to  like  to  enjoy  the 
fruits  of  labors  well  accomplished,  we  should  safeguard 
against  the  besetting  fault  of  resting  in  content  on  past 
achievements  while  hugging  to  ourselves  self-appreciation 
for  big  things  done.  It  is  right  to  enjoy  in  a  reasonable 
way  the  blessings  that  have  come  with  our  great  natural 
heritage  and  as  a  result  of  our  interdependence  one  upon  the 
other,  while  not  forgetting  at  all  times  to  look  the  facts 
squarely  in  the  face. 

It  is  a  fact  that  Chicago  in  the  matter  of  city  building  is 
a  mere  pygmy.  It  is  not  in  the  nature  of  the  average  Chi- 
cagoan  to  be  long  content  to  remain  at  the  bottom  of  the 
list  of  the  world's  cities  in  recognizing  the  need  for  and 
carrying  out  plans  for  adequate  public  improvements  cre- 
ating conditions  conducive  to  comfort,  convenience,  good 
health  and  general  contentment. 

The  passing  of  the  World's  Fair,  twenty  years  ago,  wit- 
nessed the  last  of  the  great  works  done  under  the  impulse 

77 


of  the  Chicago  spirit — works  which  had  proven  our  peo- 
ple ready  to  take  up  large  schemes  for  public  improvements. 
Now  is  the  time  for  the  NEXT  great  step— THE  OFFI- 
CIAL ADOPTION  OF  THE  PLAN  OF  CHICAGO. 

The  cost  of  carrying  out  the  Plan  of  Chicago  will  not 
stop  the  people  when  the  Chicago  spirit  is  again  aroused. 
Our  people  are  bent  on  betterments.  The  people  of  Chi- 
cago during  the  twenty-five  years  ending  with  1906  have 
spent  more  than  $220,000,000  in  permanent  improvements, 
but  our  misfortune  lies  in  the  fact  that  we  have  builded 
haphazardly  and  without  a  plan.  If  we  had  had  a  plan 
toward  which  to  work  the  results  accomplished  would  have 
been  vastly  greater.  We  should  not  be  dismayed  at  the  cost, 
then,  and  less  than  ever  when  we  know  that  the  people  of 
Paris  numbered  only  a  little  over  half  a  million  souls,  and 
had  nowhere  near  so  sure  a  commercial  future  as  Chicago's 
today,  when  they  began  work  on  a  street  improvement  plan 
involving  over  $260,000,000  and  carried  it  to  completion 
in  fifty-seven  years.  No  sooner  was  this  gigantic  task  fin- 
ished than  the  city  of  Paris  appropriated  an  additional 
$181,000,000  for  still  greater  improvements  requiring  fif- 
teen years  to  complete.  These  great  expenditures  on  the 
part  of  the  people  of  the  French  metropolis  are  indicative 
of  the  great  thrift  and  wisdom  of  that  people.  It  is  known 
the  world  over  that  the  French  people  are  not  extravagant; 
on  the  contrary,  France  is  the  most  frugal  nation  in  the 
world. 


78 


How  Other  Great  Cities  are 
Building. 

ERHAPS  the  best  guide  for  humanity  in  all  its 
progress  lies  in  observing  the  experience  orothers, 
studying  the  mistakes  others  have  made,  and 
analyzing  the  causes  which  led  to  failure  on  the 
one  hand  and  brought  success  upon  the  other. 
This  principle  has  been  absorbed  by  Chicago,  and  in  the 
work  of  city  planning  the  deepest  and  most  careful  study 
has  been  given  to  the  struggle  for  better  conditions  in  every 
great  old-world  center. 

London,  Paris,  Berlin,  Rome,  Vienna,  Venice,  Ham- 
burg, Dresden,  Budapest — all  the  great  cities  of  Europe, 
have  been  studied  as  through  a  microscope.  The  elements 
making  for  wealth  in  each  have  been  adopted  for  Chicago, 
the  elements  of  weakness  of  each  have  been  classified  that 
Chicago  may  avoid  the  difficulties  that  have  hampered  and 
prevented  development  of  cities  abroad. 

Besides  this  great  task,  there  has  been  completed  in 
Chicago's  behalf  a  critical  study  of  all  the  great  American 
cities  which  are  working  to  self-development  under  condi- 
tions of  good  order,  cleanliness,  and  wealth-producing 
power. 

The  great  public  projects  for  improvement  of  New 
York,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  Boston,  Washington,  Cleve- 
land, St.  Paul,  Minneapolis,  St.  Louis,  Kansas  City,  San 
Francisco,  Seattle  and  Portland  have  been  examined  with 
infinite  pains  that  Chicago  might  draw  to  herself  all  the 
good  ideas  of  her  wide-awake,  ingenious,  and  ambitious 
American  sisters. 

In  the  arduous  task  of  preparing  for  the  launching  of 
the  Plan  of  Chicago  the  experts  entrusted  with  the  work 
went  back  to  the  dawn  of  civilization  as  expressed  in  the 
orderly  founding  of  cities.  They  noted  the  springing  up 
of  Rome  in  disorder  and  squalor,  with  narrow  streets 

79 


crowded  to  the  utmost  until  her  great  emperors,  by  whole- 
sale destruction  of  buildings  at  a  cost  of  millions,  opened  the 
city  to  the  sunlight  and  through  a  succession  of  sovereignties 
built  the  magnificent  Eternal  City  which  even  in  the  decay 
of  centuries  exists  as  one  of  the  marvels  of  human  effort. 

The  greatest  value  gained  for  Chicago  by  the  study  of 
city  history  has  been,  of  course,  in  the  experiences  of  mod- 
ern cities.  No  review  of  facts,  perhaps,  points  a  better 
moral  for  Chicago  today,  than  a  recital  of  the  action  of  the 
far-seeing,  prudent  and  economical  French  people  in  the 
building  of  Paris,  contrasted  with  the  policy  of  the  slow  and 
unimaginative  Briton  in  the  development  of  London. 


THE   TRANSFORMATION   OF   PARIS   UNDER   HAUSSMANN. 
Plan  showing1  the  portion  executed  from  1854  to  1889.    The  new  boulevards 
and  streets  are  shown  in  heavy  black  lines. 

(Copyrighted  by  the   Commercial   Club   of  Chicago.) 

PARIS — The  first  real  planning  for  a  city  had  its  origin 
in  Paris  under  Louis  XIV,  about  1700  A.  D.  In  various 
commercial  aspects  Paris  is  a  great  deal  like  Chicago,  being 
built  upon  a  fertile  plain  extending  indefinitely  back  from 
the  Seine  as  the  plain  of  Chicago  extends  from  Lake  Michi- 

80 


gan.  The  cities  are  alike,  too,  in  their  great  supply  of  build- 
ing material,  as  well  as  in  the  breadth  of  landscape. 

Paris  in  the  day  of  Louis  XIV  was  a  crowded,  congested 
city,  but  the  architects  selected  by  the  great  French  king 
foresaw  the  development  of  the  splendid  city  now  existing. 
They  therefore  went  outside  the  walls  of  the  compact  city, 
and  laid  out  the  plans  upon  which  Paris  has  been  builded. 
The  Madeleine,  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  the  great  axial 
avenue  from  the  garden  of  the  Tuileries  to  the  Place  de 
L'Etoile, — all  existed  on  paper  decades  before  they  were 
finally  realized  in  the  building  of  the  city. 

The  lesson  for  Chicago  in  this  is  that,  as  Paris  increased 
in  size,  it  grew  according  to  a  well-devised  and  symmetrical 
plan;  and  that  the  greater  portion  of  the  convenience,  im- 
pressiveness  and  beauty  of  modern  Paris  was  attained  at  no 
money  cost  whatever.  Good  sense  and  foresight  made  up 
the  only  price  paid.  It  remains  only  to  point  out  that  Chi- 
cago has  a  similar  opportunity  today,  and  to  show  its  citi- 
zens wherein  that  opportunity  can  be  grasped. 

Modern  Paris  is  largely  a  creation  from  the  mind  of 
Georges  Eugene  Haussmann,  who  became  prefect  of  the 
Seine  in  1853  after  successful  work  in  other  French  cities. 
His  work  tended  toward  providing  adequate  circulation  of 
traffic  within  the  old  city,  effected  by  cutting  new  streets 
and  widening  old  ones,  by  sweeping  away  unwholesome 
rookeries  and  opening  up  great  spaces  to  disengage  monu- 
ments of  beauty  and  historic  interest.  He  grouped  the 
railway  stations  about  the  center  of  the  city,  and  opened  up 
fine  avenues  of  approach  to  them.  He  cut  new  streets 
wherever  necessary,  taking  special  care  to  create  diagonal 
thoroughfares  to  shorten  distances  for  all  traffic.  Hauss- 
man  is  acclaimed  by  all  the  world  as  the  greatest  city  builder 
of  all  time. 

The  Plan  of  Chicago  is  a  striking  duplicate  in  many  of 
its  features  of  the  lifework  of  Baron  Haussmann.  He 
worked  to  overcome  for  the  people  the  intolerable  conditions 
which  arose  from  the  rapid  increase  in  population.  The 
Chicago  Plan  has  the  same  general  aim.  When  Haussmann 
began,  Paris  had  half  a  million  population.  He  left  Paris 

81 


working  under  a  complete  plan  by  which  the  city  may  be 
extended  for  a  century  without  losing  any  of  its  convenience, 
healthfulness  or  other  great  metropolitan  qualities.  Hauss- 
mann's  theory  was  that  money  thus  spent  made  a  better  city, 
and  that  a  better  city  was  a  greater  producer  of  wealth.  Ex- 
perience has  proven  his  theory  right. 

LONDON — Now  let  us  consider  the  experience  of  Lon- 
don in  proceeding,  as  Chicago  has  so  far  proceeded,  with- 
out any  definite  plan  of  growth.  London,  after  the  great 
fire  of  1666,  had  a  greater  opportunity  to  build  a  city  of 
convenience,  economy  and  wealth-producing  and  conserv- 
ing capacity  than  ever  was  presented  to  Paris.  And  the 
occasion  brought  forth  the  man  to  bestow  the  great  boon  of 
good  order  upon  the  British  capital  in  the  person  of  Sir 
Christopher  Wren,  one  of  the  world's  greatest  architects. 
Sir  Christopher's  plans  contemplated  a  city  with  streets 
radiating  from  central  points,  with  locations  for  public 
buildings  at  the  end  of  long  and  pleasing  vistas.  These 
ideas,  fixed  on  paper  years  before  the  French  even  con- 
ceived the  plan  of  orderly  development  of  Paris,  were  cast 
aside  because  of  the  perverse  and  stolid  self-interest  of  some 
of  the  then  citizens  of  London.  The  rebuilt  London  grew, 
haphazard,  careless  and  contented,  until  the  English  peo- 
ple awoke  in  the  latter  half  of  the  last  century  to  find  them- 
selves facing  expenditures  of  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars 
to  produce  in  their  city  the  conditions  necessary  to  the  finan- 
cial, physical  and  moral  welfare  of  London's  multitudes. 

In  1855,  under  the  spur  of  Baron  Haussmann's  activity  in 
Paris,  the  Londoners  began  to  attempt  to  repair  the  errors 
of  their  city's  past.  To  secure  a  small  part  of  that  which 
Paris  had  secured  for  nothing  but  exercise  of  foresight  they 
have  undertaken  project  after  project.  Up  to  1900  they  spent 
$100,000,000  on  these  public  works.  Various  commissions 
are  at  work  on  park  and  boulevard  plans.  London  will 
spend  millions  upon  millions  of  money.  Among  the  proj- 
ects decided  upon  is  that  of  cutting  through  two  great  thor- 
oughfares at  a  cost  of  $125,000,000  for  land  damages  alone. 

London  is  creating  a  park  system.  The  greatest  experts 
in  the  United  Kingdom,  considering  the  condition  of  the 

82 


people  of  London,  gauging  with  truth  the  moral  future  of 
London's  people,  considering  scientifically  their  future 
physical  needs,  hold  it  essential  to  the  city's  future  that  thus 
she  must  relieve  herself  of  the  burden  and  pressure  of  her 
increasing  millions  of  population  if  the  city's  civilization 
is  to  be  maintained. 

To  create  her  parks  London  must  acquire  land  which 
has  quadrupled  in  value  within  thirty  years.  London  is 
widening  and  straightening  her  streets.  To  do  it  she  is  ap- 
propriating frontage  that  costs  twice  as  much  as  it  would 
have  cost  a  few  years  ago.  London  must  do  these  things  re- 
gardless of  the  money  cost,  agree  the  learned  men,  the  pub- 
licists and  the  merchants  of  the  world's  greatest  city,  or  by 
congestion  of  her  streets  and  building  area  be  halted  in  her 
growth  and  progress,  and  eventually  forced  to  decay  and 
degeneracy. 

WASHINGTON— In  America  the  best  example  of  a 
well-planned  city  lies  in  our  national  capital — Washing- 
ton. That  city  illustrates  for  us  the  success  of  wise  provision 
for  the  future  of  a  city.  Washington  was  planned  and 
founded  as  the  capital  of  our  nation,  and  it  is  of  great  sen- 
timental interest  to  us  today  that  the  immortal  Washington 
himself  had  a  large  part  in  laying  the  plan  which  has  made 
Washington  a  city  of  surpassing  convenience  and  beauty. 

Under  the  direction  of  President  Washington,  and  un- 
der his  supervision,  Peter  Charles  L'Enfant,  a  young 
French  engineer,  deliberately  drew  the  plan  of  an  entirely 
new  capital  city  designed  to  accommodate  a  population 
one-third  greater  than  that  of  Paris  of  that  date.  Upon  a 
rectilinear  street  system  L'Enfant  imposed  a  system  of  di- 
agonal avenues  of  stately  width  converging  upon  focal 
points  designed  as  the  location  of  important  public  build- 
ings, statues  or  monuments  commemorating  historic  events. 

This  magnificent  plan,  designed  for  an  area  which  then 
consisted  of  wide  swamps  and  wooded  hills,  became  the 
laughing-stock  alike  of  foreign  traveler  and  American  cit- 
izen. But  fortunately  the  plans  were  laid  deep,  the  lands 
necessary  for  avenues,  streets  and  parks  were  donated,  and 
although  the  development  of  the  city  for  three-quarters  of 

83 


a  century  was  slow,  we  have  today  as  result  of  the  planning 
a  stately  and  beautiful  city  instead  of  a  straggling  and  ill- 
kept  one.  Washington  has  outgrown  its  original  plan,  but 
its  spirit  was  maintained,  and  today  works  to  cost  nearly 
$50,000,000  are  in  progress  and  strengthening  the  general 
scheme  of  L'Enfant. 

CLEVELAND  was  one  of  the  first  cities  to  feel  the 
effect  of  the  new  American  impulse  for  city  planning.  A 
few  years  ago  that  commercial  city,  taking  advantage  of 
the  fact  that  a  new  Federal  building,  city  hall  and  public 
library  were  to  be  built  at  the  same  time,  prepared  a  group- 
plan  for  the  structures,  with  appropriate  landscape  settings. 
Thus  a  work  involving  $14,000,000  for  public  purposes  is 
being  done  according  to  a  carefully  worked  out  plan,  and 
besides  this,  the  railways  are  joining  in  the  plan  work  for 
an  expenditure  of  from  $3,000,000  to  $5,000,000  for  stations 
and  appurtenances. 

BOSTON  has  developed  the  most  extensive  park  system 
in  America,  at  a  cost  of  $33,000,000,  and  is  creating  on  the 
Charles  River  a  tidal  basin  which  bids  fair  to  rival  any 
similar  work  in  Europe.  A  state  commission  is  working  on 
a  means  of  relieving  congestion  in  Boston. 

NEW  YORK  is  busy  with  many  improvements. 

BALTIMORE  is  using  the  opportunity  presented  by 
a  great  fire  to  straighten  her  streets. 

ST.  LOUIS  is  struggling  on  a  city  plan  involving  the 
grouping  of  her  municipal  buildings  and  the  creation  of  an 
outer  and  inner  park  system. 

SAN  FRANCISCO'S  rebuilding  after  the  earthquake 
and  fire  of  1906  has  been  after  a  plan  seeking  to  promote 
convenience  and  good  order. 

PHILADELPHIA  is  cutting  a  great  parkway  from 
Logan  Square  to  Fairmount  Park  and  planning  the  group- 
ing of  her  public  buildings. 

MINNEAPOLIS  and  ST.  PAUL  are  joining  in  a 
great  work  of  civic  improvement  and  the  creation  of  park- 
ways. 

84 


MANILA — Even  in  the  far  away  Philippines  the 
American  city-planning  activity  is  exerting  itself  in  open- 
ing up  Manila  to  new  conditions  and  in  looking  to  creating 
a  new  Washington  on  the  hills  of  Baguio,  where  a  new 
summer  capital  is  planned. 

CHICAGO — In  this  great  forward  urge  for  orderly 
development  of  American  cities,  therefore,  it  is  not  to  be 
expected  that  Chicago,  with  her  proud  record  of  achieve- 
ment, will  stand  still  in  the  presence  T)f  her  opportunities. 
The  movement  for  better  civic  conditions  is  on  throughout 
the  world.  The  stirrings  of  the  new  impulse  will  not  die 
out  without  accomplishment  of  the  possibilities  that  lie  be- 
fore Chicago.  The  history  of  cities,  both  ancient  and  mod- 
ern, has  taught  Chicago  that  its  way  to  continued  greatness 
and  increased  prosperity  lies  in  making  the  city  convenient 
and  healthful  for  the  ever-increasing  numbers  of  its  cit- 
izens. 

Chicago  has  learned  that  the  orderly  arrangement  of 
fine  buildings  and  monuments  brings  wealth  and  fame  to 
the  city.  Chicago's  problem  then  has  become  that  of  mak- 
ing the  best  use  of  its  central  location  and  its  resources 
which  have  already  served  to  draw  together  millions  of 
people,  and  are  clearly  destined,  inasmuch  as  forty  million 
Americans  now  live  within  twenty  hours  of  Chicago,  to 
make  the  city  America's  greatest  center  of  trade  and  res- 
idence. Chicago's  greatest  duty  is  to  plan  now  for  that 
present  development  which  promotes  present  content  and 
insures  permanence  to  its  future. 

All  social  and  charity  workers,  all  philanthropists,  all 
those  who  extend  a  helping  hand  to  the  unfortunate  ones  to 
elevate  the  downtrodden  and  to  bring  a  ray  of  sunshine  into 
the  homes  of  those  whose  lives  are  dark  and  dreary  should 
fall  in  line  behind  this  plan  and  assist,  in  every  way  pos- 
sible, to  crystallize  in  its  favor  a  public  opinion  so  strong  as 
to  force  the  authorities  to  act.  For  the  following  reasons: 

First:  The  Chicago  Plan  is  basic  and  is  an  indispen- 
sable permanent  foundation  for  an  orderly  arrangement  of 

85 


the  future  growth  of  our  city  along  lines  dictated  by  the 
natural  conditions  surrounding  us. 

Second :  A  scientifically  and  carefully  worked  out  Plan 
should  not  be  changed  in  its  essentials.  It  is  obvious,  that 
hygienic  measures  must  keep  pace  with  advanced  knowl- 
edge resulting  from  scientific  research,  and  upon  this  foun- 
dation then  we  can  build  further  by  the  adoption  of  such 
hygienic  and  philanthropic  measures  as  our  changing  con- 
ditions may  demand,  from  time  to  time,  and  as  scientific  re- 
search along  these  lines  and  our  constantly  advancing  knowl- 
edge of  human  nature  and  human  needs  may  prescribe. 

Third:  It  is  a  plan  for  the  whole  people  and  partic- 
ularly for  those  who  cannot  afford  to  go  elsewhere  in  search 
of  recreation. 

Fourth:  It  will  reclaim  for  the  people  the  shores  of 
our  beautiful  Lake  Michigan,  will  give  them  more  con- 
venient and  more  direct  transportation  and  will,  in  short, 
make  our  city  more  healthful,  more  comfortable  and  more 
attractive. 

Fifth:  This  Plan  concerns  itself  with  the  re-arrange- 
ment of  streets,  arteries  of  traffic,  where  that  is  demanded 
by  intolerable  conditions  of  congestion  or  inconvenience, 
all  important,  because  congested  districts  are  the  hotbeds 
of  vice,  sickness  and  misery. 

Sixth :  It  lays  down,  along  proper  lines,  a  Plan  for  the 
growth  of  the  city,  its  park  areas,  small  parks,  playgrounds, 
bathing  beaches,  recreation  piers  and  boulevards. 

Seventh:  The  Chicago  Plan  Commission  believes,  as 
do  all  advanced  social  and  charity  workers,  that  the  inau- 
guration of  hygienic  measure  or  measures  for  the  ameliora- 
tion of  living  conditions  of  our  people,  should  be  left  to 
experts  for  study  and  recommendation  and  to  the  proper 
authorities  for  execution. 

Eighth:  The  Commission  also  believes  that  such  meri- 
torious questions  as  the  proper  regulation  of  tenements  and 
housing  of  the  poor  are,  in  themselves,  important  enough 

86 


to  demand  special  consideration  as  separate  and  distinct 
measures  and  that  the  adoption  of  a  plan  for  the  City  of  Chi- 
cago, as  outlined,  will  in  no  way  conflict  with  such  worthy 
and  necessary  measures  of  relief.  On  the  contrary  the  ex- 
ecution of  the  Plan  will  mean  more  and  better  air,  better 
light  and  more  breathing  places  and  places  of  recreation, 
all  of  which  are  so  conducive  to  better  health,  better  physical 
development  and  a  higher  tone  of  morals,  to  the  teeming 
masses  now  congregated  within  the  limits  of  Chicago. 


MANAGING  DIRECTOR. 


87 


Original  Promoters  of  the  Plan  of  Chicago 

Merchants  Club  Committee 

1906  -  1907 

CHARLES  D.  NORTON,  Chairman;  CHARLES  H.  WACKEH,  Vice-Chairman; 
DAVID  R.  FORGAN,  Treasurer;  WALTER  H.  WILSON,  Chairman  Finance  Com- 
mittee; EDWARD  B.  BUTLER,  FREDERIC  A.  DELANO;  DANIEL  H.  BURNHAM, 
Architect. 

Commercial  Club  Plan  Committees 

1907  -  1908 

CHARLES  D.  NORTON,  Chairman;  CHARLES  H.  WACKER,  Vice-Chair  man; 
FREDERIC  A.  DELANO,  Secretary;  WALTER  H.  WILSON,  Treasurer;  ADOLPHUS 
C.  BARTLETT,  EDWARD  B.  BUTLER,  CLYDE  M.  CARR,  JOHN  V.  FARWELL,  JR.,  JOY 
MORTON,  CHARLES  H.  THORNE;  DANIEL  H.  BURNHAM,  Architect. 

1908  -  1909 

« 

CHARLES  D.  NORTON,  Chairman;  CHARLES  H.  WACKER,  Vice-Chairman; 
FREDERIC  A.  DELANO,  Secretary;  WALTER  H.  WTILSON,  Treasurer;  ADOLPH%S 
C.  BARTLETT,  EDWARD  B.  BUTLER,  CLYDE  M.  CARR,  JOHN  V.  FARWEIX,  CHARLES 

L.    HUTCHINSON,    ROLLIN    A.    KEYES,    JOY    MORTON,    CHARLES    H.    THORNE;    DANIEL 

H.  BURNHAM,  Architect. 

1909  -  1910 

CHARLES  H.  WACKER,  Chairman;  JOHN  V.  FARWELL,  V  ice-Chairman; 
FREDERIC  A.  DELANO,  Secretary;  WALTER  H.  WILSON,  Treasurer;  EDGAR  A. 
BANCROFT,  ADOLPHUS  C.  BARTLETT,  EDWARD  B.  BUTLER,  CLYDE  M.  CARR,  CHARLES 
L.  HUTCHINSON,  JOY  MORTON,  THEODORE  W.  ROBINSON,  CHARLES  H.  THORNE; 
DANIEL  H.  BURNHAM,  Architect. 

EDWARD  B.  BUTLER,  Chairman;  JOHN  W.  SCOTT,  Vice-Chairman;  EMERSON 
B.  TUTTLE,  Secretary ;  CHARLES  G.  DA  WES,  HAROLD  F.  McCoRMicK,  CHARLES  H. 
HULBURD;  DANIEL  H.  BURNHAM,  Architect. 

1910  -  1911 

EDWARD  B.  BUTLER,  Chairman;  JOHN  W.  SCOTT,  V ice-Chairman;  EMERSON 
B.  TUTTLE,  Secretary;  WALTER  H.  WILSON,  Treasurer;  CHARLES  G.  DA  WES, 
CHARLES  H.  HULBURD,  A.  A.  MCCORMICK,  HAROLD  F.  MCCORMICK,  JULIUS 
ROSENWALD;  DANIEL  H.  BURNHAM,  Architect. 


88 


The  Chicago  Plan  Commission 


ROSTER  OF  MEMBERS 


AHEBN,  THOS.  J.  ALD., 

214  S.  Kedzie  Av. 
AHLSWEDE,  ED. 

2500  W.  North  Av. 
AMBERG,  WALTER  ARNOLD, 

513,  9  S.  La  Salle  St. 
ARMOUR,  J.  OGDEN 

137    S.    La    Salle    St. 
ARMSTRONG,   F.   H. 

Reid,    Murdoch   &   Co. 
AUSTRIAN,   ALFRED   S. 

76    W.    Monroe    St. 
BAMBAS,  JAMES  F. 

2311    S.    Trumbull    Av. 
BANCROFT,  EDGAR  A. 

134   S.   La   Salle  St. 
BARDONSKI,  V. 

1256  Noble  St. 
BARTLETT,  A.  C. 

State    St.    Bridge. 
BARTZEN,    PETER 

Pres.  Board  of  County  Com- 
missioners,   County   Bldg. 
BASCH,  JOSEPH. 

Care  Siegel,  Cooper  &  Co. 
BAUER,  FRANK 

1137  W.  14th  PI. 
BEIDLER,  FRANCIS 

72  W.  Adams   St. 
BEIDLER,  GEORGE 

649  Washington  Bl. 
BEILFUSS,  ALBERT  W.   ALD., 

778  Milwaukee   Av. 
BENNETT,   FRANK  I. 

69  W.    Washington   St. 
BERLIN,    ROBERT   C. 

19  S.   La   Salle   St. 
BIGELOW,  NELSON  P. 

309  Tacoma  Bldg. 
BILLINGS,  DR.  FRANK 

335  E.  22d  St. 
BINYON,  LEWIS  D. 

304    Chamber    of    Commerce 

Bldg. 
BLOCK,  EUGENE  ALD., 

9311  Evans  Av. 
BOEHM,  JOHN  J. 

1901  S.  Halsted  St. 
BOND,  WILLIAM  A. 

25   N.    Dearborn   St. 
BOWEN,  JOSEPH  T. 

1430  Astor  St. 
BRADLEY,  JOHN  J. 

4709  Halsted  St. 
BRADY,  C.  G. 

642  Belden  Av. 
BRENNAN,  JOHN  J.  ALD., 

Room  4.  716  W.  Madison  St. 
BRITTEN,  FRED  A.  ALD., 

1010  Hartford  Bldg. 


BROOKS,  ROBERT  E.  L. 

9904  Ewing  Av. 
BROWN,  EVERETT  C. 

57-59  Exchange  Bldg. 
BROWN,  WM.  L. 

1740  Coml.  Natl.  Bank  Bldg. 
BUDINGER,  JOHN 

2449  Wentworth  Av. 
BUDLONG,  JOSEPH  J. 

Care  L.  A.  Budlong  Co. 
BURNHAM,  D.  H. 

Railway  Exchange  Bldg. 
BUTLER,  EDWARD  B. 

Randolph   Bridge. 
CAMPBELL,  DANIEL  A. 

Postmaster,    358    Federal 

Bldg. 
CAPITAIN,  HENRY  D.  ALD., 

418  Chamber    of    Commerce 
Bldg. 

CARPENTER,   BENJAMIN 

182  W.   South   Water  St. 

CARR,  CLYDE  M. 

16th   and    Rockwell   Sts. 

CARR,  PATRICK  J.  ALD., 
3521  S.  Western  Av. 

CARRY,  EDWARD  F. 

419  Railway  Exchange  Bldg. 
CERMAK,  A.  J.  ALD., 

2532  S.  Trumbull  Av. 
CERVENKA,  JOHN  A. 

26th  St.  and  Albany  Av. 
CHAMBERLIN,  HENRY  BARRETT 

312  Record-Herald  Bldg. 
CHAP,  IGNATIUS 

555  W.  31st  St. 
CHRISTENSEN,  E.  C. 

1105  W.  Erie  St. 
CLARKSON,  RALPH 

410   S.    Michigan   Av. 
CLETTENBERG,  BERNARD  F.  ALD., 

15   S.   La   Salle   St. 
CLOIDT,  FRANK  X. 

29  S.   La  Salle   St. 
CLOW,  WILLIAM  E. 

Harrison    and    Franklin    Sts. 
COBE,  IRA  M. 

69   W.   Washington   St. 
COHEN,  EDWARD 

9206  Commercial  Av. 
COLLINS,  M.  J. 

1027  Railway  Exchange  Bid. 
CONOVER,  CHARLES  H. 

State  St.   Bridge 

CONNERY,     J.     T. 

505  Old  Colony  Bldg. 
CONROY,  JOHN  J. 

5511  Center  Av. 
CONWAY,  EDWIN  S. 

304  S.  Wabash  Av. 


COONLEY,  HENRY  E. 

82  W.  Washington  St. 
COUGHLIN,  JOHN  J.  ALD., 

17  N.  La  Salle  St. 
CRIMMINS,  D.  J.  REV. 

3210  Union  Av. 
CROWE,  ALBERT  J. 

513  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

CULLEBTON,    EDWARD    F.    ALD., 

510  Keaper  Block. 
CUNEO,  LAWRENCE 

1350  La  Salle  Av. 
DASSO,  PAUL 

222  N.   State  St. 
DAVIS,  ABEL 

Court   House. 
DAWES,  CHARLES  G. 

125    W.    Monroe    St. 
DEFREES,  JOSEPH  H. 

Hotel  Windermere. 
DELANO,   FREDERIC  A. 

515  Western  Union   Bldg. 
DERING,  JACKSON  K. 

835  Old  Colony  Bldg. 
DERPA,  JOHN  S.  ALD., 

9050  Commercial  Av. 
DE  STEFANO,  G.  S. 

640  S.  Clark  St. 
DIBELKA,  JAMES  B. 

2022  S.  40th  Av. 
DIXON,  GEORGE  W. 

425    S.    5th    Av. 
DONNELLEY,  THOMAS  E. 

731   Plymouth  Court 
DOWNEY,  JOSEPH 

30  N.  La  Salle  St. 
DUNBAR,  THOMAS 

820    Pullman    Bldg. 
DUNNE,  EDWARD  F. 

3127  Beacon  St. 
DWEN,  ROBERT  G. 

3730  Ellis  Av. 
ECKIIART,  BERNARD  A. 

1308-lb33  Carroll  Av. 
ECKIIART,  JOHN  W. 

311   Carpenter  St. 
EGAN,  DENNIS  J.  ALD., 

G54  W.   18th  St. 
ERICSON,  JOHN  E. 

City  Engineer, 

City  Hall. 
EWEN,   JOHN   M. 

525  Rookery  Bldg. 
FARLEY,  EDWARD  P. 

1220  Michigan  Av. 
FARR,  MARVIN  A. 

849  Marquette  Bldg. 
FARWELL,  JOHN  V. 

102  S.  Market  St. 
FIELD,  E.  C. 

Republic  Bldg. 
FIELD,  STANLEY 

219  W.  Adams  St. 
FINN,  JOHN  C. 

94G4  Cottage  Grove  Av. 
FINUCANE,  THOMAS  J. 

2912  Loomis  St. 
FITZMORRIS,  CHARLES  C. 

Private  Secretary  to  the 
Mayor,   City   Hall 


FISHER,  ALBERT  J.  ALD., 

219    W.    72nd    St. 
FISHER,  WALTER  L. 

55-35  N.   Dearborn  St. 
FOELL,  CHARLES  M.  ALD., 

803  Straus  Bldg. 
FOREMAN,    EDWIN    G. 

30  N.  La  Salle  St. 
FOREMAN,    HENRY   G. 

President  Board  of  South  Park 

Commissioners,      402-42       N. 

Dearborn  St. 
FORGAN,    DAVID    R. 

Care   National   City   Bank. 
FORGAN,  JAMES  B. 

First  National  Bank. 
FORSBERG,  CHARLES  J.  ALD., 

4944  W.  Huron  St. 
FOWLER,  W.  A. 

343  S.  Dearborn  St. 
FREEMAN,  THEO. 

527  Barry  Av. 
FREUND,  Louis  P. 

1G56  Garfleld  Bl. 
GALLAGHER,  THOMAS 

921  W.  Madison  St. 
GARIBALDI,  JOHN  G. 

1   W.   South   Water  St. 
GEIGER,  ELLIS,  ALD., 

Ill  E.  Ohio  St. 
GETZ,   GEO.   F. 

15(30  Old  Colony  Bldg. 
GILLIAN,  JOHN  C.  REV. 

2542  Wallace  St. 
GLACKIN,  EDWARD  J. 

618  S.  Morgan  St. 
GLESSNER,  J.  J. 

606  S.  Michigan  Av. 
GOETZ,  FRITZ 

Clybourn  Av.  and  Willow. 
GORDON,  FRANCIS  REV. 

1813  N.  Wood  St. 
GRAHAM,  ANDREW  J. 

661    W.    Madison    St. 
GRAY,  W.  A. 

430  Orleans   St. 
GRIESEMER,  CHARLES  J. 

Care  J.  V.   Farwell  Co., 

102  S.  Market  St. 
GRUND,  CHARLES  H. 

3511  Archer  Av. 
GUNTHER,  DR.  FRANK  E. 

1801  35th  St. 
HAFER,  HENRY 

423   W.   24th   St. 
HAGEY,  DR.  HARRY  H. 

4500  Emerald  Av. 
HALL,  RICHARD  C. 

500  S.  Franklin  St. 
HARDING,  GEORGE  F.  JR.,  ALD., 

164  W.  Washington 
HARPER,  DR.  W.   E. 

3441  Michigan  Av. 
HARRISON,  HON.  CARTER  H. 

607  Rush  St. 
HARTKE,  EMIL  A. 

301  W.  47th  St. 
HAUGAN,  HENRY  A. 

State   Bank   of   Chicago. 
HEBEL,  OSCAB 

1102   Schiller   Bldg. 


90 


HECHINGER,  C.  E. 

1106  Frank  St. 
HEISER,  A.  C. 

3535  Archer  Av. 
HERLIHY,  DANIEL 

2743  N.  Albany  Av. 
HERTZ,  HENRY  L. 

426  Federal  Bldg. 
HILL,  FREDERICK  A. 

5640  W.  Lake  St.,  Austin  Sta. 
HILL,  JOHN  W. 

1463  Monadnock  Blk. 
HINES,  EDWARD 

2431  S.  Lincoln  St. 
HOLABIRD,  WILLIAM 

1618  Monadnock  Blk. 
HOLMES,  MARSHALL  F. 

620  W  stern  Union  Bldg. 
HOLSLAG,   EDWARD  J. 

1420  Michigan  Av. 
HOOKER,  GEORGE  E. 

City  Club,  218  S.  Clark  St. 
HOPKINS,  TOHN  P. 

20  W.   Jackson  Bl. 
HOTTINGEK,  OTTO  G. 

801    Milwaukee   Av. 
HRODEJ,  Jos.  T. 

1352  S.  40th  Av. 
HULBURD,  CHARLES  H. 

10   S.   Wabash  Av. 
HULTIN,   N.  H. 

317  N.  Clark  St. 
HUNTER,  THOS.  M. 

City  Hall 
HUTCHINSON,  CHARLES  L., 

Corn  Exchange  Nat.  Bank. 
HYLDAHL,  JENS  N.  ALD., 

2448  North  Monticello  Av. 
JACKSON,  GEORGE  W. 

754  Jackson  Bl. 
JANISZESKI,  FRANK  H. 

179  W.  Washington  St. 
JARECKI,  EDMUND  K.  ALD., 

1956  Armitage  Av. 
JOHNSON,  GEORGE  E.  Q. 

89  W.   Randolph  St. 
JOHNSON,  NELS 

4401  W.  North  Av. 
JUDD,  EDWARD  S. 

42  N.  Dearborn  St. 
KASPAR,  WILLIAM 

1900  Blue  Island  Av. 
KEARNS,  JAMES  A.  ALD., 

5510  Lafayette  Av. 
KELLY,  ED.  A.,  REV. 

5521  Wentworth  Av. 
KERFOOT,  W.  D. 

54  W.   Washington  St. 
KEYES,  ROLLIN  A. 

194  N.  Wabash  Av. 
KING,  JOHN  A. 

215  S.  5th  Av. 
KLEIN,  L. 

Halsted  and  14th  Sts. 
KOCH,  FRANK  J. 

2603   S.   Halsted   St, 
KOHLBECK,  VAL.,  REV.  O.  S.  B. 

1637  Allport  St. 
KOHN,  W.  C.,  REV. 

3650  Honore  St. 


KOLACEK,  WILLIAM 

President     West     Park     Board, 

1812  Blue  Island  Av. 
KOWALEWSKI,  B.  F. 

1259  W.  51st  St. 
KRABOL,  O.  O. 

1740  N.   Maplewood  Av. 
KRUEGER,  WILLIAM  F. 

2176  Canalport  Av. 
KRULEWITCH,  ERNEST 

740  Maxwell  St. 
KRUMHOLZ,  AUGUST  ALD., 

1662  Fullerton  Av. 
KRUSE,  FRED 

1523  Fullerton  Av. 
KUNDE,  ERNEST 

3324  W.  22d   St. 
LA  MARRE,  JOSEPH  V.,  REV. 

3836  S.  California  Av. 
LATHROP,  BRYAN 

407    S.    Dearborn    St. 
LAUB,  ALBERT 

2839  Union   Av. 
LAWLEY,  JAMES  H.  ALD., 

1925   W.   Chicago  Av. 
LEGNER,  WM.  G. 

916  N.  Paulina  St. 
LEININGER,  DR,  GEO. 

1856  W.  North  Av. 
LE  TOURNEUX,  EDWARD  D. 

New  Era  Bldg.,  Suite  315. 
LINCOLN,  ROBERT  T. 

Pullman  Bldg. 
LIPPS,  W.  F.  ALD., 

2180  Wilson   Av. 
LITTLER,  H.  E.  ALD., 

2505  N.  Washtenaw  Av. 
LITZINGER,  EDWARD  R. 

316  Ashland  Blk. 
LONG,  THEODORE  K.  ALD., 

4823  Kimbark  Av. 
LURYA,  ISAAC 

755   Old   Colony   Bldg. 
LYNCH,  JOHN  A. 

Care   Nat.   Bank   of   the   Re- 
public. 
MAcCiiESNEY,    NATHAN   WILLIAM 

30  N.  La  Salle  St. 
MACVEAGH,  FRANKLIN 

Treasury  Department,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C. 
MAMEK,  GEO. 

1724  Centre  Av. 
MAMER,  CHRISTOPHER 

501  Throop  St. 
MANG,  ALBERT  G. 

125   W.   Monroe   St. 
MARK,  CLAYTON 

2610  W.  25th  PI. 
MARSON,  Jos.  C. 

916  Milwaukee  Av. 
MAXWELL,  DAVID  G. 

21st  and  Loomis  Sts. 
MAYER,  LEVY 

•     76  W.  Monroe  St. 
MAYPOLE,  WM.  T. 

2236  Washington  Bl. 
McCoRMiCK,   HAROLD  F. 

606  S.  Michigan  Av. 


MCFATBICH,    DR.    J.     B. 

President    Board    of    Educa- 
tion,  153  N.   Michigan  Av. 
MCGANN,  LAWRENCE  E. 

Commissioner  of  Public 

Works,   City   Hall 
MclNERNEY,   MICHAEL  ALD., 

4541  Lowe  Av. 
MCLAUGHLIN,  JOHN  J. 

9  S.  La  Salle  St. 
MITCHELL,  JNO.  J. 

Illinois  Trust  &  Savings 

Bank. 
MOODY,   WALTER  D. 

Room  314,  Hotel  La  Salle 
MORAND,   PAUL  J. 

818  S.  May  St. 
MORTON,  JOY 

717  Railway  Exchange  Bldg. 

MUELHOEFER,  EDWARD 

1325  Clybourn  Av. 
MTTELLER,  MAT*  A.  ALD., 

5017  S.  Wood  St. 
MUGLER,  GEO.  A. 

Union  Park. 
NANCE,  WILLIS  O.  ALD., 

5213  Hibbard  Av. 
NERING,  JOHN 

324  S.   La   Salle   St. 
NEWKIRK,  CHAUNCEY  F. 

4313  N.   Hermitage  Av. 
NlEDEREGGER,  EUGENE 

1811  Hammond  St. 
NIETERINK,  HENRY 

1835  W.  12th  St.  Bl. 
NIMMONS,    GEO.    C. 

1733  Marquette  Bldg. 
NORTON,  CHARLES  D. 

First  National  Bank,  2  Wall 

St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
O'BRIEN,  PETER  J. 

314,  9  S.  La  Salle  St. 
OCHSNER,    A.    J.,    DR. 

2106   Sedgwick   St. 
OEHMEN,  JOHN  S. 

2247  Wentworth  Av. 
OSBORN,  GRANT  C. 

448  Marquette  Bldg. 
OSTROWSKY,  HENRY 

1253  S.  Halsted  St. 
OTT,  HERMAN  A. 

3839  Milwaukee  Av. 
OTTENHEIMER,  HENRY  L. 

105  W.  Monroe  St. 
PAGE,  WALTER 

1603  Fisher  Bldg. 
PALMER,  HONORE 

1300     First     National     Bank 

Bldg. 
PALT,  FRANK  J. 

3205  S.  Morgan  St. 
PATTISON,  JAMES  WILLIAM 

Art    Institute. 
PEABODY,  F.  S. 

76  W.  Monroe  St. 
PELIKAN,    D. 

1910  S.  Halsted  St. 
PENDARVIS,  ROBERT  E. 

58   Borden    Blk. 
PETERSON,  WM.  A. 

1032,  30  N.  La  Salle  St. 


PETRU,  FRANK  J. 

1441  W.  18th  St. 
PETTIBONE,  AMOS 

27-33  N.  Desplaines  St. 
PFEIFFER,  GEORGE  L. 

2345  W.  12th  St. 
PHELPS,  CHARLES  A. 

1311  Hartford  Bldg. 
PLAMONDON,  CHARLES  A. 

12-24  N.  Clinton  St. 
PORTER,   GEORGE  F. 

1730   Tribune    Bldg. 
POTTER,  EDWIN  A. 

4832  Madison  Av. 
POWERS,  JOHN  ALD., 

21  N.   Clark  St. 
PRETORIUS,  HERMAN 

3264-66  Lincoln  Av. 
PRIESS,  ABRAHAM 

1201-05  W.  Taylor  St. 
RAWSON,  F.  H. 

Union  Trust  Co. 
REHM,   WILLIAM   H. 

1900  W.  18th  St. 
REINBERG,  PETER  ALD., 

30  E.  Randolph  St. 
REYNOLDS,  GEO.  M. 

Continental    National    Bank. 
REVELL,   ALEXANDER  H. 

Wabash  and   Adams   St. 
RICHERT,  JOHN  A.   ALD., 

2603   S.   Halsted   St. 
RINBERG,  FRANZ 

507    Throop    St. 
ROBINSON,  THEODORE  W. 

1524,  72  W.  Adams  St. 
ROSENWALD,  JULIUS 

Care  Sears,  Roebuck  &  Co. 
ROULSTON,  ROBERT  J. 

President  Library  Board,  229  N. 

State   St. 
ROUSSEAU,  NECTAR,  SR. 

1228  Oregon  Av. 
RYAN,  WM   F.  ALD. 

504   Sherman   St. 
RYERSON,  MARTIN  A. 

134  S.  La  Salle  St. 

SCHAFFNER,    JOSEPH 

Monroe  and  Franklin  Sts. 

SCHIAVONE,    P. 

Halsted  and  Taylor  Sts. 
SCHILLING,  GEO.  A. 

President    Board    of    Local    Im- 
provements,   City    Hall. 
SCOTT,  JOHN  W. 

300  W.  Adams  St. 
SEIPP,  W.  C. 

179   W.    Washington    St. 
SEXTON,  WILLIAM  H. 

Corporation    Counsel,    City 

Hall 
SHANAHAN,  DAVID  E. 

115  S.  Dearborn  St. 
SHANAHAN,  D.  S. 

222  W.  Madison  St. 
SIIEDD,   JOHN  G. 

219  W.  Adams  St. 
SHEPARD,    FRANK   L. 

108   S.    La    Salle    St. 
SIEWERT,  HENRY  J. 

3865  Milwaukee  Av. 


92 


SIMMONS,  FRANCIS  T. 

President   Lincoln    Park     Board 

327    W.   Adams    St. 
SIMON,  ROBERT  M. 

4136  Perry   St. 
SIMPSON,  JAMES 

219   W.    Adams    St. 
SKALA,  FRANK  J. 

96G-970  W.  18th  St. 
SKINNER,  EDWARD  M. 

528  S.  5th  Av. 
SMITH,  DEXTER  A.,  M.  D. 

3850  N.  42d  Av. 
SMULSKI,  JOHN  F. 

1154  Milwaukee  Av. 
.SMYTH,  THOMAS  A. 

President    Sanitary    District, 
1500  American  Trust  Bldg 
SNOW,  BERNARD  W.  ALD., 
1209  People's  Gas  Bldg. 
SPETZ,  ANDREW,  REV. 

1351  Ingraham  St. 
SPHAGUE,  ALBERT  A. 

Care  Sprague,  Warner  &  Co. 
SPROUL,  ELLIOTT  W. 

203   S.   Dearborn  St. 
STAVER,  HARRY   B. 

76th  and  Wallace  Sts. 
STEWART,  JOHN  P.  ALD., 

105  W.  Adams  St. 
STILLWELL,  HOMER  A. 

Randolph  Bridge. 
STROBEL,  CHARLES  L. 

1744   Monadnock   Bldg. 
STROM,  A.  A. 

725  Marquette  Bldg. 
STROOK,  CHAS.  L. 

212  W.  24th  PI. 
STUBE,  JOHN  H. 

Burr  School. 
STUCKART,  HENRY 

2519   Archer   Av. 
SULLIVAN,    ROGER   C. 
r  25   N.    Dearborn  St. 

SULTAN,  GEORGE,  DR. 

1314  Halsted   St. 
SUNNY,  BERNARD  E. 

230  W.  Washington  St. 
SWAN,  CHAS.  F.,  M.  D. 

9139  Commercial  Av. 
SWIFT,  EDWARD  F. 

Union   Stock  Yards. 
SWIFT,  GEO.  B. 

Security   Bldg. 
SZYMANSKI,  WALENTY 

1907  Blue  Island  Av. 
TANANEVICZ,  JOHN  M. 

3244   S.   Morgan   St. 
TAYLOR,  GRAHAM 

955  Grand  Av. 
TEARNEY,  ALBERT  R.  ALD., 

39  W.  Adams  St. 
TEICH,  MAX  L. 

328  S.  Clark  St. 
TENINGA,  HERMAN 

11227  Michigan  Av. 
THEURER,  JOSEPH 

Canalport   Av.    and    18th    St. 


THOMPSON,  JOHN  R. 

186   N.   State   St. 
THORNE,   CHARLES  H. 

Care   Montgomery    Ward  & 

Co. 
TINSMAN,  HOMER  E. 

118  N.  La  Salle  St. 
TITTLE,    FRANK    J. 

1133   S.  Jefferson   St. 
TOBIN,  T.  M. 

9332  South  Chicago  Av. 
UIHLEIN,  EDWARD  G. 

Ohio  and  Union  Sts. 
UMBACII,  FRANK  L. 

3418  Wallace  St. 
UPIIAM,   FRED   W. 

1700,  7(i  W. 'Monroe  St. 
VAVRICEK,  FRANK  J.  ALD., 

1720  Loom  is  St. 
VOPICKA,  CHARLES  J. 

2107  Blue   Island  Av. 
WACKER,  CHARLES  H. 

134  S.  La  Salle  St. 
WALKOWIAK,  S.  S.  ALD., 

803  Straus  Bldg. 
WASHBURN,  EDWARD  A. 

4143  Elston  Av. 
WASHBURNE,  HEMPSTEAD 

79  W.  Monroe  St. 
WASHINGTON,  IRVING 

4445  Perry  St. 
HARVEY  T.  WEEKS, 

30  N.  La  Salle  St. 
WETTEN,   EMIL  C. 

800,   108  S.  La  Salle  St. 
WHEELER,  HARRY  A. 

Union    Trust    Co.,    Tribune 
Bldg. 

WlEBOLDT,    W.    A. 

639  Deming  PI. 
WILDER    JOHN  E. 

228  W.  Lake  St. 
WILLIAMS,  J.  F.,  DR. 

311   Centre  St. 
WILLIAMS,  THOMAS 

3940  N.  Francisco  Av. 
WILSON,  BENJAMIN   S. 

1012,  160  W.  Jackson  Bl. 
WiLsdN,  FRANK  J.  ALD., 

54-56  W.  Indiana  St. 
WILSON,  JOHN  P. 

1605  Marquette  Bldg. 
WILSON,  WALTER    H. 

520  The  Rookery. 
WOLLNER,   RUDOLPH  H. 

437,  30  N.  La  Salle  St. 
WOOD,  WILLIAM  G. 

3620   W.    Irving   Park   Av. 
WOOLLEY,  C.  F. 

2937   Archer  Av. 
YOUNG,   E.  C. 

9215  Pleasant  Av. 
YOUNG,  DR.  GEORGE  B. 

Health    Commissioner,    City 

Hall. 
ZANDER,   HENRY   G. 

143  N.  Dearborn   St. 
ZIMMER,  MICHAEL 

2256  W.   21st  PI. 


93 


